❛ 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 ❜ | jsc

18

aera peered at the bandit leader who was sitting in the same tent as her. as soon as they had settled down, he had untied her hands and gave her a heaping amount of food before retreating to his side of the tent.

she watched him as his shoulders sagged and gazed up at the now-dark sky, seemingly getting more and more depressed as the stars appeared one by one in the sky.

she cleared her throat. "i know i'm a hostage and everything, and i don't mean to be nosy, but are you okay?" she asked after she distinctly saw a tear roll down his cheek.

lee taeyong didn't answer for a few minutes and aera was about to take it as a cue to mind her own business when he patted the spot next to him. "come sit here." he said with a broken voice, much different from the strong one he had used when kidnapping her.

aera approached him a bit cautiously and settled down. "the stars are pretty tonight." she noted to break the awkward silence.

taeyong let out an unexpected sigh. "she always said so too."

"who?" aera asked before she could stop herself, "oh- i'm sorry i didn't mean to pry."

taeyong shook his head. "i guess it's fine." he wiped his eyes on a handkerchief. "i had a girl that i was in love with a few years ago before i became a bandit. she was a princess and i was born into the bandit life." taeyong paused to slightly chuckle in pain.

aera frowned. "what happened?"

"we found love. every night i'd sneak into her balcony and take her out. we would lay on the grass and she would put her head on my chest. she always commented on how pretty the stars were every night without fail." taeyong's voice choked a little. "i was friends with own of the princes from the kingdom you come from, his name was jaehyun. i had met him when went on one of his commissions and it was fun to hang out with him every now and then."

aera sensed where this story was going and braced herself.

"i just wish that one of them would have told me. the day i found out they were going to get married was the wedding day. i didn't even get an invite" taeyong started getting tears in his eyes. "on nights like this, when the stars shine the brightest, i miss her even more."

aera felt his pain a little too much. "why wouldn't she tell you?" it was almost like aera was asking for herself.

taeyong looked at her. "i guess she didn't love me like i thought she did. i snuck back in one night to ask her why. she had the guards called on me and the next day jaehyun had banned me from ever setting foot anywhere near the palace grounds. i had lost my best friend and the love of my life all in one day."

aera frowned. "it wasn't real friendship or real love if they had the heart to do that to you taeyong, i know you kidnapped me and all but you deserve much more than that."

taeyong smiled softly but his expression turned into concern when he saw aera's tears. "my story couldn't have touched you that much?"

aera thought it was only fair that he knew her story too. "i assume if you knew jaehyun, then you know who jung sungchan is."

"the crown prince. bethrothed and now marrying princess bom."

aera flinched at the mention of the marriage and taeyong gazed at her with a knowing look. aera continued. "he was my soulmate" he said softly.

"was?"

aera nodded. "he didn't tell me and proposed to that bom girl. its like you said... i guess he didn't love me like i thought he did."

taeyong felt bad for the girl, who was obviously distressed. "can i see your soulmate mark?" he asked tentatively.

aera nodded and pulled out her arm, only to gasp in shock. "a fox?" she exclaimed.

taeyong gave her a surprised look, "has it not always been a fox?"

she shook her head, "my mark was always a dove.. until it disappeared. this is new."

"who do you think it is?"

like a video on tape, blurred memories of renjun by her side at every moment played inside of her mind. she saw his smile over and over again and remembered the feeling of his fingers brushing through her hair.

she recalled his voice reading out poems to her, subtly confessing his love with his choices and his laughter when she attempted to draw in his sketchbook.

"renjun." she spoke aloud.

she turned to taeyong. "its renjun," she said a little louder with a smile on her face.

the sound of two angry horses neighing outside of taeyong's tent was what caused aera and taeyong to stand up and rush out to see what was the commotion.

there they were. the past soulmate and the present one, staring at aera in worry from their horse as an unfamiliar boy accompanied them.

"renjun." she spoke softly, only having eyes for him.

"aera are you okay?" he asked and slid off of the horse faster than sungchan, engulfing the girl in his arms.

sungchan sighed and drew his sword to taeyong's neck.

aera screamed. "stop! prince jung, stop. he's a good person."

"he kidnapped you."

"i'm letting her go with you." taeyong told sungchan.

sungchan didn't remove his sword and renjun yelled at him. "you're scaring her!" and indeed aera was scared.

sungchan glanced back at her and immediately retracted his sword. "since when did you call me prince jung?" he asked quietly.

"it's what a simple subject like me should call you." she said from behind renjun's protective stance.

taeyong eyed the trio and instantly figured out the situation. he shook his head and glanced at the random boy. "zhong chenle what are you doing?"

chenle chuckled. "i'm leaving the bandits and coming to the castle!"

taeyong facepalmed himself. "whatever. prince sungchan i would like a word with you."

sungchan titled his head a bit confused as he followed taeyong a little ways away from where renjun was checking aera for any injuries and fixing her messy hair.

"it looks like you still love her." taeyong noted.

"what?"

taeyong sighed, the boy was sure slow as hell. "i can tell. plus, she already told me the entire situation. don't be like your brother and mess up this whole love thing. if she really was your soulmate and you still love her, get her back. you're a little slow on your feet and if you continue being slow, renjun will really steal her away. they are each other's new soulmates you know."

sungchan's eyes widened at this news. "what do i do?"

taeyong looked sungchan straight in the eyes. "you have to break off the engagement. that's the only way you can prove that you love aera. you can't have everything sungchan."