Cursed Hearts | ATEEZ

010 SURREAL

It took less time than expected to make it out of the capital, and I watched with mixed feelings of disappointment and curiosity as the colourful buildings of the inner levels of the city slowly disappeared, become fewer and fewer, replaced by trees growing older and taller the closer we got to the outer wall, following the King of the South in silence, occasionally admiring his auburn hair that burned in the warm sun rays glowing from overhead.

He was clad in robes of white matching mine in colour, though not the training suit that Wooyoung had been wearing, that I was wearing.

No, the difference between us, between who we were and who we were to each other was devastatingly clear, I realized. Obvious. Undeniable except for the white. So much white and-

"So," King Jongho suddenly said, interrupting my thoughts as he clapped his hands together and turned to me with a warm smile, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners.

"This is one of my favourite places to go when I need some space or time to myself," he continued, "Do you want to see my special spot?" his smile widened even further as the words slipped past his lips, the sight making my heart ache as I opened my mouth in an attempt to answer but finding no words as I tried to push back the surprise at his offer.

He looked so little like a king and so much like a man, a mortal, once again surprising me as the other royals had done as well. Jongho gestured to the landscape behind him, stepping aside to give me a better view of the mountain stretching towards the soft blue sky overhead, clad in blankets of trees, bushes, and colourful splotches of flowers creating small rainbows snaking around the warm hues of stone.

"Wow," I breathed, my eyes fluttering shut for a moment as the warm summer breeze ruffled my hair as it whisked by, caressing my face and bringing colour to my cheeks as I glanced back over my shoulder at Martell that was now laying behind us before turning my attention back to the mountain; so different, and yet the same beauty lingered and clung to both of them.

"Wow is right," he breathed, and as my eyes fluttered open again, I took a moment to study his handsome features as his face visibly brightened at the view of the mountain. "Didn't you just say that you came here often?" I asked, taking a step closer to the king, "You seem just as taken aback as I am."

"Oh, I am here quite often, actually," the king said, turning to me, his strikingly blue eyes in perfect harmony with the sky and the river that flowed lazily along the foot of the mountain, separating it from the city, "The palace gets stuffy when there aren't any contestants around. I'm sure you would feel the same if you were stuck with the same roommates for hundreds of years."

I laughed a little at that though the thought of the King of the South, any of the royals, having lived through centuries, only able to keep each other as company, watching as their loved ones and subjects either died from age or fell victims to The Silent Plague was horrible. My laugh turned into a sigh, my heart aching as I tried to find something to say, to ask, to complement in order to ease the heart of the young man in front of me.

"Which one is it, then?" I blurted out, furrowing my brows at the comment as soon as it had passed my lips seeing as the answer seemed pretty obvious, but King Jongho's smile widened a little as he fully turned to the mountain, "The strongest mountain, of course," he said proudly.

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips at the sight of him, looking satisfied with the view as he put his hands on his hips, "Do you sometimes stay in the Palace of the South, then? When your 'roommates' become too much to handle?"

He laughed at that, though a flicker of sadness fluttered across his ocean-blue eyes of skies, clouds, and fresh flowers at the same time, the king hesitating for a moment before saying, "I used to, a long, long time ago, But as time passes, it only makes me feel more lonely, the others as well. The only one who still goes up into their palace anymore is Wooyoung."