You, Again | jhs

4. Crown Prince Lee Shin

"Sounds impossible, but it may be." Hana mumbled, her mind going haywire at the news.

"Hana. Vampires are not real. They're just mythical creatures made up by some looney long time ago! Or actually, Vlad the Impaler who had an unhealthy obsession with blood." Namjoon paused, catching his breath from practically rapping out his words. "The murderer is probably just a psycho imitating a vampire."

"Joon, I know you never read my webtoon, but can I tell you something about it?" Hana exhaled deeply, the irrational fear inside her mind causing a turmoil within her. "Promise me that you won't judge me before listening to the whole story."

"Fine. What about it?"

"My webtoon characters... I haven't include this plot into the webtoon yet but they're going to be turned into vampires with the setting being in the Joseon era. I-I don't know Joon, whether it's just by chance for all these to happen at once or... m-maybe I'm just crazy, like what you've said." Hana was on the verge of tears now as she spoke.

"Hana, I never said that you're crazy. You're just slightly more unique than normal people because you're blessed with more creativity and a vast amount of imagination with you." Namjoon comforted. "And... let's say your suspicions are right. What should we do with it then?"

"Maybe I should see a psychiatrist. Maybe I'm delusional or just purely paranoid." Hana sniffled, and it broke Namjoon's heart to hear her cry.

"Well, will you feel better if I accompany you to the doctor for a consultation? I think I have a friend who knows a pretty decent psychiatrist."

"Sure. Just update me when you've made the appointment."

After ending the call, Hana was beyond exhausted at the recent events happening around her. She left the living room and entered her work room, her eyes scanning the character sketches of her webtoon covering the entire wall of the left side of the room.

Her story mainly revolved on the theme of brotherhood – on a group of six in which they grew up together with five of them protecting their Crown Prince to their literal death. Her favourite side character - Seokho, was a loyal shadow protector of the royalty, and like the personality she had instilled him with, he had proven himself to be loyal to the Crown Prince by getting injured while protecting the latter some time later, even when the Crown Prince was pissed at the fact that he had found out about the secret meetings between a girl and him every night outside the palace.

"I can't believe you! You've been betraying me this way for such a long time!" The Crown Prince who had just turned eighteen bellowed angrily, his short temper on full display as he shoved all the things away from his desk.

"Your Highness, I ask for your understanding in this matter. I have not betrayed you, and will never betray you. The maiden is simply a girl who I have come to love, but my loyalty still sticks with you till the end of my life." Seokho explained himself with a knee still knelt on the ground, an arm placed on the knee with his head lowered so he wouldn't be disrespectful to look at the royalty straight in the eyes.

The Crown Prince Lee Shin, or also known as - Taehyung, scoffed at his personal bodyguard. "Who's this special girl to be able to melt our great Seokho's ice cold heart? I want to meet her now."

Seokho's head snapped upwards immediately at his words. "W-what?"

"I said, I want to meet her. Whoever this girl is. Then I'll reconsider whether to forgive you for not giving your full attention towards your job or not."

And that was how Shin met Hana for the first time. He decided to hate her even if it was just their first meeting, and ignoring Seokho's pleads, he approached the clueless girl standing on a bridge above the lake with furious footsteps.

"You! You over there!"

Startled at the unfamiliar deep voice, Hana flinched in shock before turning around to meet a man dressed modestly storming towards her, his gaze holding raging fire within. She pointed at herself, whirled around to see no one else behind her, and returned back to her position to furrow her eyebrows at the man now standing in front of her.

"Who are you, mister?" Hana took a step back, eyes secretly searching for her lover to rescue her.

Sensing her actions, Shin smirked and crossed his arms. "Quit looking for Seokho because he isn't here. I told him not to come near us unless there's danger."

Hearing his name, Hana frowned even further. "Who are you to tell orabeoni what to do and what not to do! I'm leaving, I don't intend to waste my time talking to a rude person."

"Oho. You better stop walking or I'll bring you back to the palace dungeons and lock you there up forever." He warned, and that was when realization fell upon her.

"Y-you're the Crown Prince?" Hana stammered, her heart dropping when Shin grinned widely. "But... how—"

"I happen to find a feminine handkerchief inside his room, and I came here to meet you to decide whether to punish him for getting distracted from his job." Shin smirked again when he saw her glaring at him defiantly. "How brave of you to be looking at your future King with that fiery gaze."

"I'm not afraid of you, Your Highness." Hana clenched her fists. "But please, please don't hurt or punish orabeoni for this. If it makes you happy, we can stop meeting every night."

Shin quirked an eyebrow at her. "Even if it means to never see him again?"

"I—"

Hana was about to tell him 'yes' when her eyes spotted figures climbing up from the bridge below suddenly, their forms dressed in black with swords glimmering underneath the moonlight. Without thinking, she quickly pulled the Crown Prince away just in time for an attack to miss his side, surprising the royalty when she pushed him behind her.

"Hana! Please bring His Highness out of here!" Seokho's familiar voice travelled into her ears, making her eyes to tear up when she saw him, along with another five men standing with him with their own swords held tightly in a fighting stance.

"You idiot—"

Seokho didn't bother whether he was going to cut off the Crown Prince's insult. He only cared for the safety of his master and lover.

With a firm nod, Seokho shouted again. "Go now! We will defend you!"

With trembling hands, Hana grabbed the dumbfounded Crown Prince and tugged him away from the fighting scene which had just begun. She bit her bottom lip from crying out loud as sounds of swords clanking against each other and agonizing screams of getting slashed or stabbed reverberated in the once peaceful night.

"Let me go you peasant! I can fight as well!" Shin exclaimed while trying his best to pull his hand away from her strong grasp.

"I only listen to orabeoni, not you. So just shut up and run!" Hana snapped angrily, rendering the Crown Prince to zip his mouth shut and let her lead the way towards wherever they were heading to.

-

I watched Raya and the Last Dragon and damMnnNnn! I love how the movie portrayed the Asian culture so beautifully, especially of Southeast Asia. >♡<

As usual, stay safe and take good care of yourselves everyone. We are in the 21st century, yet there are still racism issues going on out there 🙄

Practice good social distancing too, ok!

Thank you for reading again, I love y'all. :)

Next update : 19/3/2021