Cursed Hearts | ATEEZ

039

"Wooyoung," I breathed, unable to find any words to describe the pure astonishment that washed over me as I fully turned to the scene in front of us, still clutching the king's hand as my jaw went slack and I sucked in a quick breath.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I let my eyes flicker across the landscape; an infinitely big lake, seemingly endless, stretched into the very distance of the horizon where it seemed to meet the sky itself, its surface so perfectly still that the clouds overhead were reflected in the water, duplicated, creating the illusion that I was staring across an enormous mirror which had emerged from the ground itself.

I took a step forward, stepping into the water and watching as the ripples I created spread across the surface like small waves, momentarily disturbing the perfectly shaped clouds beneath my feet, bending and twisting them, only to fall still again.

I was at a loss for words, amazed by the view as the previously blue sky now loomed overhead in hues of purples and pinks and soft oranges that matched the wisterias from the tunnel of flowers the king had shown me. I was at a loss for words, feeling almost lightheaded as I turned to Wooyoung to find that he was already watching me.

His hazel eyes searched my face, admiring, awed, as I had been by the lake. He clutched my hand a little tighter, almost as if he was afraid that I would disappear, slip through his fingertips if he didn't hold onto me, making sure that I would stay right there with him at that moment.

"You have to promise me that you won't break," the King of Autumn said quietly, stepping into the water as well as he turned to me completely, the look on his face showing everything at that moment; completely open, laid bare for me to read and study as he took a shaky breath. Every small movement made my heart ache with mixed want and sadness in knowing that I couldn't have him.

"You have to promise me that when you wake up tomorrow, you will fight, fight to make it back to me. I know that I'm selfish, impatient, and insecure for even asking that of you but I need you to come back, Yuna. I need you here, need you next to me, in front of me, with me. Just like now."

As the sun began to set at the end of the horizon, looking almost whole as it was reflected in the mirror-like surface of the lake as if our time wasn't running out once again as the night drew nearer, the morning along with it.

The silence lingering in the air turned almost painful as Wooyoung's words settled between us and I once again found myself at a loss for words.

"You have to make it back to me," he said again, "My heart beats for you," he breathed, "I would die for you which is why I need you to live. I need you to fight just a little longer so I can find a way to end this, to protect you-"

I swallowed thickly as the look in Wooyoung's eyes changed, cleared, wanting, more than anything at that moment, to dry the tears in his eyes that threatened to fall, to hold him close, to kiss him, to-

"I may be a king but I am nothing special. I am just another man who has made mistakes. Mistakes that I am paying for with more than they are worth, more than I am willing to give. There are monuments dedicated to me and mountains that stand as a symbol of my power, forever embedding my name into this country's history, all of it a beautiful lie to hide the ugly truth. And I've loved another with all my heart and soul before, lost her, but this- You" the king breathed, reaching out to cup my face with his free hand.

"I have never been this desperate to protect something, to have something. So please," he whispered, "I beg of you, please make it back tomorrow. That's all I ask. I will do anything for you if you just give me more time with you, together, anything. I will tear down that mountain and go to war with the heavens if that is what you demand of me but until then, just promise me tomorrow."