Prince of Flour

26. Trapped

Seonghwa stumbled backwards at first, the sudden appearance of the man disturbing him and making his heart freeze in panic. Tikki had hid her face in his neck, not bearing the unsettling eyes of the man either but Seonghwa was trying to stand upright, not letting his panic show on his face. He cradled Tikki tighter to his body.

"You look good with my child. What do you think, beauty, is there a way to get men pregnant? Any spells?", the shadow teasingly asked Liv, receiving no answer. The man rose slowly, making Seonghwa take a step backwards. He was ready to bolt, ready to save Tikki from the clutches of this pirate.

"She is not yours to claim. She belongs to Hongjoong.", he hissed at the other threateningly, still stepping back again when the man rounded the table. Liv gave an exasperated sigh, just burying her head in her hands. Her belly had started showing by now and the sight made Seonghwa feel sick. She was bearing Hongjoong's child again but this was the wrong one's. That evil clone one's.

"I am Hongjoong, dear, just how you are Seonghwa. You forget that we are part of each other. That you love me too, if you love him." Seonghwa's back collided with something soft, gentle hands settling on his hips immediately warningly. Tikki started crying softly against his neck.

Seonghwa helplessly made cooing noises, trying to shush her gently but the poor girl was scared, not daring to utter a word. Hongjoong closed up on them with a grin.

"I do not love you. Leave Tikki alone." Seonghwa carefully did not move when that Hongjoong gently lifted his hand to Tikki's head, brushing through her dark locks. He had noticed that something had changed about this Hongjoong. His hair was shorter now and a stark white, almost blindingly so. Did his Hongjoong change his appearance too?

"Don't lie, Seonghwa. It's this exact face that makes your heart flutter, these hands you want to feel on your skin. I'm sure that would we not speak, would we wear the same clothes, you could not discern us." The shadow lifted his eyes to Seonghwa's, gently lifting his hand to touch his cheek. Seonghwa felt glad he left Tikki alone but at the same time a painful fear curled in his belly.

He hated that this Hongjoong was probably right, that he would indeed not know which one of them was the right one, but did it truly matter? They had to get rid of the evil one either way.

Seonghwa jolted when those hands on his hips slid beneath his shirt, chillingly settling on his bare flesh instead. He wanted to close his eyes already, wake up on the Precious, fall into the real Hongjoong's arms and forget everything about those villains.

"You came to meet Hongjoong, did you not? We can take you to him. We have a nice dinner scheduled with him in a few days due." This was no yes or no question and Seonghwa wanted to run so bad, curl up somewhere and cry because his brain told him these people meant pain and fear.

He swallowed harshly. His approval could at least save Tikki and Liv.

"Sure then. Let's leave." The words tasted bile in his throat but Hongjoong nodded approvingly, stepping back from him to allow him to put Tikki down. He gently made her look up at him and caressed her little chubby cheeks, giving her his best smile. If she saw it tremble she did not comment on it.

"Don't worry, alright? I will take him away."

Tikki nodded with big eyes, running off then to hide behind the skirt of her mother who just looked at them with tired eyes.

"We'll be back, Liv. Notify me when I take too long.", Hongjoong drawled with a grin and Liv actually blushed, nodding sweetly.

"Will do. Have a nice journey." Her eyes flickered over to Seonghwa and suddenly grew cold again. "Make sure ye be the only one returning next time."