Ishihara // ATEEZ ✔

17 Warning

"Good morning," Yeosang declares as he pushes the door to the dining hall open but as soon as his eyes land on the two sitting, he backtracks. "Or maybe not. Damn, what happened to both of you? I thought we agreed on trying to stay positive moving forward... and Seonghwa did you not shower when you wake up?" He scrunches up his nose. "It is so unlike you."

"It's hard to stay positive in this situation," Wooyoung utters.

"I have no time to shower thinking about it," Seonghwa slowly adds.

Yeosang frowns before pulling a chair next to Wooyoung, who is still holding the letter. It has crumpled as he has been gripping on it too hard. The former notices the paper before trying to piece everything together. "Is that a letter?" Seonghwa and Wooyoung both solemnly nod. Wooyoung passes the paper to him, prompting him to read it. Without protest, he reads the lines one by one, his speed gradually decreasing by the time he reaches the end of the letter. "So she's gone," he says simply. "That was faster than what I anticipated."

Wooyoung, who seems a bit taken aback by his comment, says almost loudly, "What do you mean by that?"

"Calm down." He puts down the letter before returning his gaze towards Wooyoung. "If you were Akira, would you be staying here for another day?"

When he sees that none of the two offered any answer, he continues. "She knows what she's doing. She has been sent here on a mission by her queen and it is unfortunate that her cover was blown apart so soon. It wasn't even her fault but she also deserved to know that the queen never intended to see her going back there alive."

"She's going to get killed," Seonghwa interjects. "You read the last paragraph again and tell us what she's intending to do."

"You guys seem too hung up on her fake identity. She's not a minister and she's definitely not an ambassador from Lucida. She's a soldier. And she's at the highest position. There is a reason why she's a general. Stop thinking that she's weak and would need our help. If anything, we are the ones who need her help. She is probably more skilful in swordsmanship than all of us combined. Again, I believe she knows what she's doing. She chose to walk out of the palace on her own will, and even left a letter. It's a hard pill to swallow, but she is no longer our concern."

"How can you... say that when you were the one who nursed her, saw all her wounds? It's ironic coming from a doctor like you. How can you let her go like that?" Seonghwa says through gritted teeth as he balls up his fist.

"It's not ironic, it's the truth. Well, you are acting unlike yourself. A few days ago you would not even treat her more than an ambassador. Because she's an outsider. From Lucida at that."

He sneers. "What are you trying to get at? Stop trying to turn the situation around-"

"Guys, please," Wooyoung knocks his fist on the table, earning stares from the other two. "We don't need this right now. It's hard to agree but what Yeosang said is the truth. She's not supposed to be our concern anymore."

"She's not supposed to... but I'm not concerning her as an ambassador anymore. I'm concerned for her as a fellow human. I cannot let her go, especially after writing a letter like that."

Yeosang sighs and massages his temples. "Then what do you suggest we do? Deploy our soldiers to go on a hunt for her? To what, bring her back? She's a Lucida resident. We have no rights over her."

"I don't know!" He throws up his hands in frustration. "I'm just worried about her. I didn't even get to properly say goodbye to her. I... I felt stupid for being mad at her."

"So what you're saying is you want to go and save your future princess?" Wooyoung smirks, the mood suddenly changing.

He rolls his eyes. "This is not the time for jokes-"