You, Again | jhs

11. My Comfort Is You

"No! Trust me on this, please. I need to find them." Hana pleaded, her eyes turning glossy from the tears threatening to fall.

"And you're here because you want me to go with you, am I right?" Namjoon exhaled loudly when Hana nodded sheepishly, and rubbed his face roughly while standing up to walk towards his closet. "Why am I friends with you again. You get me into way too much trouble for my own good."

Hana giggled. "We are like two peas in a pod, inseparable."

As the gloomy night sky continued to shed its tears of sorrow onto the land, the two friends scurried out towards the outskirts where the forest was located at. Hana remembered Seokho telling her that they were to travel to another town on the other side of the forest, so she was sure that this route would be the same route they took a few days ago.

The forest wasn't anything unfamiliar for the pair of friends since they often found themselves venturing inside to help Namjoon's father pick herbs for medications, so they kinda knew which part of the thick forest was safe and which was not. As they continued to travel in silence, Namjoon was about to open his mouth to convince Hana to return home as the downpour showed no signs of stopping when a high-pitched, ear-piercing scream cut through the thin air.

Instantly freezing with their eyes wide staring at each other, Namjoon instantly sprinted into action when Hana took off before him towards the source of the scream. It came from the direction where the small abandoned hut was located on top of a hill, and it was used as a rain shelter for the friends when they were out picking herbs together.

Hana halted her footsteps with bewilderment written all over her face when she saw a man running towards them, and she recognized him as none other than the petty Crown Prince her lover had to protect. Lee Shin fell onto the damp muddy ground when his eyes saw the two gawking at him, and his sobs only grew louder when he glanced back up at them.

"P-please help me. There w-was an ambush a-and the guys tried to protect me b-but—" Shin choked on a sob, his warm tears blending perfectly well with the icy raindrops falling onto his face. "Please help."

"Where are they?" Hana knelt down with her eyebrows knitted together, doing her very best not to break down and cry since she needed to be the strong one for the royalty who had a soft heart masked with a tough exterior.

Shin pointed at the direction where he had came from. "There. Jisung was defending us both but more came so he made me run w-while... shielding me from the arrows shot at me."

The atmosphere dropped impossibly even colder at the soft muttering of the Crown Prince's voice. He didn't need to say the words exactly out loud for the friends to understand that there were sacrifices made in this cold cold night.

"What about the people who had ambushed you? They didn't try to come after you?" Namjoon questioned while helping the other man back up on his feet, and he hitched his breath when he felt him burning up. "Your Highness, you're having a high fever and we need to bring you back to the palace right now."

Shin immediately shook his head. "No! The guys are still there, we need to find them!"

As much as it pained Hana to say this, she knew that she had to since this concerned the Crown Prince - the future King - himself. Daringly, she placed her hands on his trembling ones, patting it gently with a soft gaze looking at his shocked ones.