Yona of the Dawn Hak

Chapter 22

Bloom POV

Ever since we met the priest a few days ago I've been trying my hardest to avoid being alone with Hak. The others have let go and forgotten of his little slip with calling me a princess but I know Hak won't let it go. He's annoying like that.
"I'm going to go pick up some wood for the fire." I said walking off from our camp.
"I'll go."
"No! I already have someone going with me so you stay here. Bye!" I grabbed Yona's hand and made a run for it.
"Bloom, why are you avoiding Hak? Did something happen?" Yona asked.
"It's nothing. I'm fine."
"You know you can tell me anything right. We're friends." She grabbed my hand staring at me with pleasing eyes. I feel bad for not telling her anything but I just don't want anyone to know. It's not something I'm proud of.
"Trust me I'm fine." I smiled reassuringly. She was wary but let go of my hand nonetheless. We grabbed a couple of branches and along the way I saw a cute little fawn so I wandered off to play with it. As I was following it I saw a wolf begin to growl at it. It was about to pounce on the cute little fawn until I jumped in front transformed as a fox. One look at me and the wolf was running away scared. The fawn looked scared as well until I turned back into a human.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." I said while extending my hand out. Slowly the fawn made its way over to me. It put its nose on my hand and I giggled a little. Once it was comfortable with me I started to pet it. Then I heard the sound of a lot of animals approaching us. "Oh no. Looks like he brought back up. Run!" The fawn ran away and I turned into a fox again. Once the whole pack stood in front of me we all stared at each for a moment until the first one attacked. It jumped into the air and a slapped it away. More wolves came to attack me and I have to say I was actually defending myself pretty well. They probably bit me once but it didn't really hurt. Eventually the wolves gave up and ran away. I turned back into a human sighing. "Now. Where's the camp?" I looked around realizing just how lost I was. And to add on to that it started pouring. Just my luck. I started walking around aimlessly in search of the camp but no luck. I couldn't find it. Everything just looked the same and if I'm being honest I might be getting more lost.
"Bloom!" A familiar voice called. I turned my head and found Hak running at me.
"Hak!"
"Idiot. You're suppose to stay close to Yona. You know you have no sense of direction."
"I'm going to ignore that you called me an idiot. Okay?" I said angrily.
"Come on let's go." He grabbed my hand and started dragging me through the forest. He pulled us inside a shelter created by the rocks.
"What about that camp?"
"We have to wait until it stops raining. For now we'll stay here."
"I think I'll take my chances out there." I tried getting up but he pulled me back down into his lap.
"You've been avoiding being alone with me." He whispered into my ear which made me blush.
"No I haven't. You're imagining things."
"Fine but tell me. Why did that priest call you princess?"
"It was a mistake okay."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes it was."
"No it wasn't."
"I'm not a princess okay!!" I yelled. "I was never really a princess so I don't want to be called that."
"You were the princess of Xiang."
"How did you know I was from Xiang?" I asked surprised.
"I overheard Gramps."
"Ohh. I see... Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Even if you might look at me differently?"
"I won't ever look at you differently."
"Okay... 16 years ago I was born. But I was different then anyone in my kingdom. I was born with bright pink hair like this and worst of all I had fox ears. The king and queen hated me from the moment they saw me. They believed me to be a demon so of course I was shunned. Even though they hated me they couldn't kill me. Across the kingdom I was known as the future heir and the citizens hope so instead I was confined into a room. It was like my jail cell. Then when the kingdom was stuck in an economic depression the king and queen believed I was the cause of it so they..." I began to choke up remembering what happened. "So they hired bandits to kill me but I escaped and never looked back. Now do you see. I'm a terrible person. I was the princess and Xiang and left my entire kingdom in the hands of the corrupt King and Queen. I was there hope and I left them behind. I'm no princess." I cried into my knees finally saying it all out loud. "I'm not like Yona. Not in the slightest. She's fighting for her kingdom and her people like a princess should. I ran away. What type of human does that?"
"A normal person. I don't care about what you did in the past. That doesn't change how I see you."
"Hak... I still betrayed my people. That won't change. I'm selfish."
"You're not selfish. You're kind. Too kind for your own good and what makes you an idiot. That's why I'm always worried about you and that's what makes you so damn reckless. Ask Yun or Yona or the White Snake. They'll all agree with me. You're always getting lost no matter how close anyone sticks to you. I'm always having to protect because you can't fight yourself. You can't take care of yourself and your a clumsy mess. You also have an attitude and your the most stubborn person I know. But..." He turned my face slightly wiping away my tears. I stared into his blue eyes which was covered by his dark black hair and he stared into mine. "...Those are all the things that I love about you." As he was saying that his thumb held my chin and he moved my face upward as he slowly bent down. Our lips connected in a sweet kiss. My eyes were wide open in shock. The whole world around me just seemed to stop. I couldn't even hear the rain pour anymore. It was just me and Hak. His lips felt so soft and warm against my own. Eventually I snapped out of my senses and pushed him away. He stared at me shocked. Like he didn't even realize what he was doing. He had that same desire look in his eye after I picked the senjuso.
"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!!" I yelled while punching his chest and crying. "Why are you doing this!! You shouldn't be doing this with me!! Idiot! What about Yona?!!"
"Yona? What would Yona have to do with this?"
"What type of question is that? You love Yona not me. So why did you say that? Why did you do that?" I asked looking down on the floor with tears in my eyes. I waited for a moment for his response but he didn't say anything. Instead he started laughing which only made me mad because of how serious the situation was. "Stop laughing! I'm serious. This isn't a joke."
"If I loved Yona, then why would I be doing this with you?"
"Doing wh-." Hak suddenly covered my lips with his soft ones once again. I know for a fact that at this point my face was bright red.
"But, but, but... you proposed to her."
"I did what?" He asked truly confused.
"Remember that day in the shooting range. Yona yelled that you promised to her." Once again he started to laugh and became annoyed.
"You really are an idiot."
"Stop saying that!"
"Yona was lying. I never proposed to her. How could I if all this time I was in love with another girl?"
"Hak..." Everytime he says that I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest. It's beating so fast I don't even think it's healthy anymore.
"How about you? How do you feel about me?"
"Likewise."
"Likewise? I want you to say it."
"I'm good."
"Say it."
"No."
"Say it."
"I said no didn't I!"
"Say it."
"Okay! I love you! Are you happy now!!!" I yelled. I realized what I said and hid my face in my knees.
"Don't hide your face. You're cute when you're blushing." He made me look at him and I was shocked by what I saw. Hak was smiling. He was actually smiling.