The Cold Curse | MarkHyuck

Chapter 16:

After the ballroom dance and the exquisite dinner, the five of them had fun the whole night. Haechan felt happiness when he spent time with Areum, Jeno, Jaemin, and especially Mark. After a while, Haechan decided that they should sleep since he noticed that Jaemin and Jeno looked a bit tired from all of the fun.

The next day, Haechan starts another session with Mark. This time, the session was oddly awkward. It was because of last night when they both realized they liked each other romantically.

"Should I?- Never mind-"
"No, you should... No, I should- Never Mind... Actually, I should."

Haechan awkwardly responds before he gets a bigger dictionary from the shelf. Mark was going to educate him about complex emotions while Haechan drinks a mixture of Sage and Ginkgo as tea for better memory. Haechan grabbed the bigger dictionary and sat beside Mark, giving him the book.

Mark clears his throat before he starts looking for the definitions of complex emotions.

"So Terror means- Oh, I'm sorry."

Because of the awkward silence, Mark's voice cracks right at the start of his sentence. Haechan snickered at how Mark's voice cracked. Mark smiles, shaking his head at Haechan's cuteness. After they discussed complex emotions, Haechan and Mark meditated together.

Mark meditated for the first time with Haechan without even coaching him. They just meditated for inner peace. That was until Haechan tried grabbing the dictionary to read the meaning of "love".

He has two reasons to read the definition. First, he needs to know what love is so that he can love himself. Second, he needs to know what love is so that he can be sure with his "unidentified" feelings for Mark.

As Haechan was trying to grab the dictionary without making any noise, he ended up losing balance and placing his hand over Mark's. Of course he panicked since he disturbed Mark's meditation without even making any noise. Mark's eyes opened as he immediately looked directly at his hand.

The two of them had an awkward direct eye contact with each other as Mark realizes that Haechan's hand was on his.

Mark immediately looked away and smiled to himself before moving on. Haechan snapped out of the awkward moment and started looking for the definition of "love". As soon as Haechan found it, Mark asked what he was doing.

"What are you doing with the dictionary?"
"Finding... a... word..."

Mark thought that Haechan was adorable.

"Finding... a... word?..."

Mark imitates how Haechan spoke slowly as he was focused on finding the word.

"... 'Love'... an intense feeling of deep affection, a great interest and pleasure in something, or a person or thing that one loves... How do I do that?"
"... Well, just be the best version of yourself, have good intentions, and don't hurt anyone... That seems about it, right?"
"... Alright."

~

"Which one of you bastards let them escape?!"

Jisung yells at his half-awake servants. Chenle's wail got so strong that it made everyone oversleep and have a headache the moment they woke up. It got strong because it wasn't used for a long time and Chenle wasn't used to using that ability.

He's been captured for two years already. Of course he wouldn't know how to navigate it that much. Jisung's anger was overflowing and he could kill anyone he would feel like killing in seconds. He literally absorbed half of Renjun's golden aura which means he... is powerful.

"I want the two of them back NOW."

Jisung orders as he puts a hard grip on one of his servants' neck, choking the servant on purpose. The other servants were horrified with what Jisung was doing. The next they knew, that servant was gasping for air as blood drips on the floor.

Jisung was ruthless and cold. He wouldn't let anyone live without seeing the consequences. It was very terrifying to look at but it was just the start.

If Jisung finds Renjun and Chenle, what more could happen?

"Now that you saw one of the consequences, bring them back to me. Don't mess anything up or something worse than this will be the cause of one of your deaths."

Jisung says as the servants bowed, apologizing to Jisung immediately.

"My time here is done. I'll have to go."

Jisung rolls his eyes, leaving the basement. Far away was the abandoned kingdom as Chenle and Renjun stayed at a different location. It was still in that kingdom, however, this location is very hard to find. Since Renjun's study was already found, they moved to a different place.

It was also owned by Renjun since he's the oldest resident elf.

"Where are we?"

Chenle asks Renjun as he was flinching at the small insects flying around the place.

"This is... a substitute study? We're going to stay here for a while."
"... Why can't we be in your study? Why the substitute one?"
"Are you an idiot? I got caught there! Remember? Anyways, we are going to have to stay here and we should both watch what's happening in this place..."
"... What is this place?"
"This... is the abandoned kingdom. It was the Sun-Fire Kingdom until they moved to a different place and they left their son here... Anyways, we have to watch for Prince Haechan's safety."
"He's alive?!"
"Didn't I tell you already?!- Oh, god... For context, Prince Haechan suggested to be left alone because he's afraid of his curse... Although it looked like everything backfired since the past five years. It was great that his childhood friend, Mark Lee, came back from Vancouver- Anyways, we have to protect the true prince because if that bastard finds him, he will definitely kill him off... especially that he has half of my abilities and my golden aura..."
"He stole your golden aura?!"
"... Yes, Chenle. That's how evil and how inhuman he is."

~

According to Haechan, his father "allegedly" impregnated a maid in the palace. It turns out that the rumors were true but no one knew who that maid was. Who was the maid that the queen was jealous of?

Who was the maid that took care of Haechan and stayed with him for so long?

That's right, Areum was the maid the King manipulated through lust and love. Areum was a single mother of supposedly two kids but Daeji, preferably known as Jisung, was taken away from her when he was barely a kid. Yes, Jisung and Jeno are half-brothers while Jisung is also a half-brother of Haechan.

Areum always had her time alone where she sits in a corner and writes through her diary.

She always wrote about how she wished "Daeji" was a good man. She always missed her other son because she never got to even spend a year with him. He was taken away so easily that her heart broke.

Every year, she even marks the birthday of Daeji even though Daeji probably doesn't even remember her.

Little did she know that "Daeji" is the man who has an obsession in thinking of killing Haechan, one of the people that she's obligated to protect.

[ "I hope you're a good man now, Daeji. I hope you grew up well." - Areum ]

Areum writes in her diary before she sleeps the night away.