Among Blood & Cherry Blossoms

4: 我在你身上找到一个朋友 (I Found A Friend In You)

"Don't think that just because I brought you with me that makes us friends." Seong Hun smiled as he sat on the floor of the house, dropping his things in exhaustion.
  "We're friends," Lee Jin smiled as she sat down next to the boy. "Admit it."
  "Pfft, never." He smiled as he poked her forehead. "In your dreams."
        "So mean." She giggled at him before he stood up and extended his hand towards her.
  "Let's go." He smiled as he grabbed her hand. "If we're going to be staying together, we at least need food."
 Smiling as she held onto Seong Hun's hand, Lee Jin thought to herself, "This is so much like the life that I wanted."

🌸♡🌸

  "What  do you think, Liu?" The prince put his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them with his thumbs. "You'll stay here with me and the rest of the guards will go search for Lee Jin in town today?"
  "As you wish, Your Highness." Liu blushed as she tried to avoid eye contact with the prince while staying professional about her guarding duties. "What would you like me to do?"
    "Liu, we've been friends for way too long! What happened to just calling me 'Minnie', hmm?" He chuckled as he gently poked, Liu's nose, causing her to turn even more red.  "And forget the guarding duties for today. Today, I just need you. I just need Liu."

🌸♡🌸

 "What are you dragging me towards now, Lee Jin?" Seong Hun shook his head as the girl continued to pull him all over the marketplace. "We're supposed to get food."
  "I know, I know. I'm sorry." She smiled at him as she stopped at the place she wanted to go. "I just wanted to look at the jewelry, it looked so beautiful. I didn't plan on buying anything, don't worry."
    As she glanced over all the jewelry, Seong Hun had caught the fact that a certain object had caught Lee Jin's eyes. It was a ring, the design having cherry blossoms that sparkled so brightly under the light of the sun. Seong Hun kept it in mind as the girl beside him had finished looking at all of the accessories. 
  "Alright, I'm done looking around." She smiled as she hooked her arm with his. "Let's go!"
       "Actually, you go ahead and look around at another shop." He softly pat her hair, looking down at her. "I'm going to go check something."
  "Oh. Okay then." She looked down a bit sad but her smile returning as quickly as it had faded. "I'll be at that stand down there, okay?"
 "Okay. I'll just be a quick second so don't wander off too far and go exactly where you said." He shooed her off, watching her carefully before turning back to the jewelry stand they were just at.
    "Oh, hello again!" The shopkeeper at the stand smiled at the boy. "You're that nice young man who was with that young lady. How may I help you, young man?"
  "Can I have that ring, sir? That cherry blossom one?" He pointed at the ring Lee Jin had stared at earlier. "She really looked like she liked that one."
  "Of course." The older man smiled at him. "Here you are. She's a special one, hmm?"
     "Something like that." Seong Hun smiled to himself before snapping out of it and going to find Lee Jin only to realize she did exactly the opposite of what he had told her earlier. "Where did she go now?"
  Instead of being mad, he laughed. Until he had seen palace guards in the marketplace, roaming where Lee Jin had just been. His smile had dropped and he ran towards that direction, trying to discreetly look around and search for Lee Jin as well. He was looking until he saw the end of a familiar dress followed by a crouching girl by a stand. 'Why is she hiding in plain sight?', he thought as he walked towards her before the guards could.
   "Lee Jin." He whispered next to her ear before grabbing her hand and pulling her close. "Follow my lead, okay?"
     Before she could answer, she found herself being pulled into his chest with her face hiding in his shoulder. 'Why is my heart beating so fast? It can't be because of him right? No, don't be silly Huang Lee Jin. It's because of the guards', she thought to herself, blushing profusely.
    "Ready to go home, honey?" She could hear him say as the guards passed by.
  "Yes." She wanted to say, but being scared that she might get caught by the guards as well as being so flustered at the moment, she proceeded to nod in his shoulder.
   "Okay." He whispered softly as he kissed the top of her head.

🌸♡🌸

    "Hey, Seong Hun?" Lee Jin whispered softly as she lied on the floor facing the boy.
It was nighttime by now and they had already eaten, getting ready to sleep. 
    "Yeah?" He answered, eyes closed but still awake.
  "Why did you suddenly decide to be nice to me?" Her brows creased a bit.
   "Oh, well I figured we're gonna be stuck together for a while so I might as well be nice to you." He smirked playfully, eyes still closed. "And even though you may have annoyed me at the beginning, you sort of grew on me."
  "Oh." She spoke even softer. "Seong Hun?"
  "Hmm?" The boy hummed in response as he looked at her.
 "That kiss back there." she nervously let out. "Was that.. was that real?"
     "It was just for show, Lee Jin." He reached out and pet her hair. "I was just helping you out as a friend."
  "Ah, okay." She gave a fake smile. "Makes sense."
      "Let's go to sleep?" He smiled closing her eyes and grabbing her hand and holding it in his. "I hope that it's okay that I hold your hand. Mine are warm and yours have been cold since earlier."
   "Yeah, it's okay. What are friends for?" She whispered softly, before closing her eyes beside him.
 Little did she know that Seong Hun had lied. That kiss at the marketplace, the same one that tickled the top of her head and gave her butterflies, was real. The guards had been long gone when the kiss had happened. Little did she know that the same kiss, had given Seong Hun the same butterflies inside of his stomach and made his heart race, too.