✓ the hooded princess • kim seungmin

f o r t y f o u r

Yunseo merely scoffed with a smirk on. "You heard him."

Satisfied, Jisung got up. He went into a room and sat on the floor. With ease, the guy tore off a few wooden planks until he found a box. He took it out and opened the lid.

Seeing the explosive substances, he mumbled,

"This will do."

Suddenly, he heard thumps from the next room. Jisung quickly went there before Yunseo did or else he would have done more towards the princess. As he expected, Eunkyung was kicking the nearest wall. Though it was weak, the sound still echoed through the whole house.

"Jisung!" he heard Yunseo growled.

"I'm looking after her now." he yelled back and closed the door. "What are you doing?"

Eunkyung did not reply and kept on kicking it. She was sure her wrists were scathed with ugly marks. On top of that, the gown was itchy when she couldn't get any bath for days.

"Hey," Jisung made her facing away from the wall. "If you keep on doing this I'm afraid Yunseo will not have mercy on you. What do you need?"

"What do you think I need?" she asked back with a weak glare. "Do you think I'm sort of a robot who doesn't need the restroom?"

The male massaged his temple.

"And give me new clothes instead of letting me wearing this curtain if you plan to keep me here forever, shithead."

He scoffed, "So we are cursing now?"

"Just fucking let me change, Han."

Jisung stared at her in amusement for awhile before untying her hand but then he quickly grasped her wrists together at the back. The princess winced but he cared less. When he brought her outside, Yunseo frowned.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"She needs the restroom." Jisung replied monotonously. Eunkyung sent death glare towards the older man but he just snickered.

"Look at you, waiting for help," Yunseo cackled. "Help will eventually come, faster than you think it would, your highness."

Because of her restricted movement, she could only send cursing through her eyes.

"Then we'll see if the citizens still consider that damned king as their king."

"And you'll die by torment, the end." Eunkyung spat. "That would become a tragic story along with your family's death."

"Watch about who you're talking–"

Jisung immediately pushed her into the restroom. Eunkyung hissed when her feet stubbed at the elevated wooden floor. "That damned guy..."

"Make it quick. I don't have all day." she heard Jisung talking.

The princess silently groaned. She struggled to take off her gown in the narrow space. After a few tries she managed to get rid of the skirt, leaving her in a one piece dress that covered till her knee. Even though Jisung told her to be quick she still took her time for a quick bath. She knew she's just adding the fuel and that what she wanted but unfortunately the male remained silent till the end.

"Are you dead?" she found herself asking from the inside.

"You're awfully annoying for someone who hasn't eaten for days."

"You're naturally annoying so you need to get used to it. Hey, new clothes?"

"None."

"I shouldn't have put my expectations high." she mumbled before walking out. There, Jisung immediately cuffed her wrists together with his hand making the girl hissed in pain. He put left the girl tied again in the room and soon after returned with a new slice of bread in the plate. Without saying anything, he crouched in front of her to feed the hungry princess.

Eunkyung could not reject anything since her stomach was begging for food. Hesitantly, she took a bite which made Jisung sighed in relief. Both of them sat there without exchanging words until the princess finished the bread.

"Water." she asked and he got it.

This added to her suspicion. Jisung helped her drinking it slowly. The feeling of water flows down her throat was so refreshing after days of not taking a bath and eat. She sighed in satisfaction and for once, felt alive in the room.

"This feels extremely weird."

Jisung put on the cap and was ready to go but she held him back.

"And uncomfortable, because my kidnapper is my friend."

The male scoffed, "You're still seeing me as your friend, Eun?"

"You kidnapped me and are taking care of me unlike Yunseo, it's weird." she said.

"Yunseo isn't the man who would treat you like I do, Eun. He would have crashed your skull by the time you get here if it wasn't because of me." Jisung snickered. "Lucky, aren't you?"

"My life would be lucky if that day I did not befriend with you," she snapped. "Should have listened to Soobin."

"Ah, that guy again. How many personalities do you exactly have when you're around guys?" that question caught her off guard. "Look at us, you treat me nowhere like you treat that Soobin guy. A picnic date? Seriously?"

Her eyes widened while Jisung's smirk grew bigger. She wriggled her wrists to loosen the tie.

"And with Felix you're just like normal friends but with Seungmin..." his words trailed off as his eyes darken, staring into her soul. "you're so in love with him."

Eunkyung looked away, suddenly felt so small under his gaze but Jisung grasped her face with a hand to face him, "I wonder what your reaction would be when he comes to save you."

"You don't make him come h–"

"I just did. You're a few minutes late to stop me."

"Han!"

"By the time he comes that would be a farewell for both of you," he brought his face dangerously close to her and trailed his finger down to her neck. "So tragic."

He leaned in. Eunkyung's eyes started to water as thoughts came flooded her mind. She felt his breath tickled her skin and when he closed the gap, the princess turned her head to the side.

His lips planted on her cheek. Eunkyung tightly closed her eyes with shivers ran down her spine and shaky breath. Her heart and mind were screaming to push this guy away but she couldn't do anything. That made her feel dirty. She couldn't believe she let him do this to her.

And she definitely couldn't believe she let this guy stayed beside her for years.

Jisung pulled away and clicked his tongue in annoyance. He picked up the plate and the water bottle before leaving. As soon as the door shut, Eunkyung broke into tears.

She wanted to wipe it away, she didn't like the lingering feeling of his lips on her cheek but she could not even move her hands. Small sobs echoed throughout the room as she tried to raise her shoulder and wipe her cheek. It did touch a little, but that did not help anything. Eunkyung curled herself and buried her face into her knees. She needed some warmth, someone to hug her and tell her it was fine,

but even now she could not hug herself.

She felt dirty.

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