Everlast | yang jungwon 정원

[0.37]

I wrap my arms tightly around Jungwon's torso and link my hands together in front of his stomach, letting out a sigh as I glance around the large mass of trees.

It has been a few minutes since we left the castle, since I had to bid farewell to everyone for the first and last time. Saying goodbye to Riki was by far the hardest farewell to bid, since it felt like I had just gotten him back. I had almost wanted to beg to stay with him right then and there, but I remembered that me leaving is what is best for everyone.

"Jungwon, how much longer do we have?" I question with a sigh while hooking my chin over his shoulder.

"I'd say.. about another few minutes or so," he responds casually while glancing to the side to meet eyes with me, causing me to hum in response.

The horse moves at a relatively steady pace, giving the two of us more time before we too have to say goodbye. Now that I think about it, Jungwon's probably done that on purpose.

The few minutes pass by in what seems like seconds because soon we've stopped the horse and dismounted at the clearing in the woods, where Jungwon will be summoning the portal to earth.

I watch silently as he lifts his hands in the air, his palms facing away from his body as if he's warming up at a fireplace. The familiar spark of light emerges out of nothing but thin air, and I can feel the ground below me start to rumble. Soon, the light grows big enough to form the usual oval shape that glows brightly.

"I guess.." Jungwon trails off while turning around to face me. "I guess this is goodbye then," he says with his lips pursed together in a straight line.

"I guess it is," I respond with a smile, but it doesn't reach my eyes. I slowly trudge forward towards Jungwon while pulling my backpack tighter over my shoulders, stopping right before him with a sigh.

"Wait," he commands, making me look at him with furrowed eyebrows.

I watch curiously as he searches through his pouch for something, before he finally pulls out a letter tied together with ribbon, much like the ones my brother had written.

"Another letter from Heeseung?" I question as he extends the letter out to me while immediately shaking his head.

"No, it's from me," he corrects, "and it's for you. To read when you get home."

"Oh," is all I respond as I slowly grab the letter from his grasp. "Thank you," I excuse while carefully storing the tied parchment into the little pouch on the front of my bag.

As I turn my attention back to Jungwon, I notice that he's gone still, just staring at me intently. I send him a small smile, which he immediately mirrors back before he grabs my hand and tugs me forward to engulf me in a hug. I sigh as I wrap my arms around his torso, reciprocating his embrace tightly.

"I am going to miss you," he admits lowly, causing me to hum as I tighten my arms around his torso.

As I reluctantly pull back from the hug, I stare down at the ground for a moment as my eyebrows knit together in a frown. "I have to tell you something before I leave," I admit before slowly glancing up at him. It is now or never I guess.

"I'm listening," Jungwon urges, causing me to let out a shaky puff of breath.

"Well I," I begin as I fiddle with the fabric of my cloak, earning a hum from him. "I um, recently i've realized some things.. and I think that I lied to you that night when you asked me why i risked my life for you," I end up saying sheepishly, causing him to furrow his eyebrows together.

"What do you mean?" he questions before tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

I clear my throat before looking away from him as I feel a blush rising to my cheeks. "I told you that I did it because your kingdom needs you, which is also true but.." I trail off, sucking in a sharp breath. "It's because I've also realized that I have feelings for you. Romantic feelings," I correct. "And I think you feel the same but I could be wrong or maybe i'm just overthinking this but I care about you a lot and-"

"Minji wait," Jungwon cuts off reluctantly, making me halt my rambling.

"Yeah?" I wince embarrassingly before gazing down.

"I need you to be quiet for a moment," he says quietly, making me shoot my head up in surprise.

"Wait what?" I question before he abruptly grabs onto my hand, causing me to gasp as he tugs me forward to stand behind himself.

"Stay quiet, I hear something," he commands with his eyebrows deeply knit together while cautiously turning his head in every direction. I observe my surroundings eerily with wide eyes, peering over Jungwon's shoulder as I do so.

"Jungwon, what's going on?" I ask in a whisper while placing my hands on his shoulder blades. Instead of a response I feel a hand wrap around my forearm from behind, making me let out a shriek before immediately ripping my arm away from the person's grasp and taking a few steps back in surprise.

Alarmed, Jungwon hurriedly turns around and pulls me towards himself protectively, away from the man in the dark cloak who stands a few feet away from me.

"Who are you?" Jungwon calls out while glaring at the man, causing me to stare flightendly as he walks closer to approach us.

"Hand over the girl," the man simply states, making me inhale a sharp breath.

"I would never," Jungwon hisses back while tightening his grip around my waist. I watch as the mysterious man draws his sword, making me stiffen up in fear.

"The king of Wimborne is a traitor.." the cloaked man murmurs, almost as if he's talking to himself. "The king of Wimborne is a traitor!" he says again, this time in a shout before I hear the rapid treads of numerous footsteps approaching in a fast manner.

I quickly look around before I realize that we've been surrounded by numerous individuals, all carrying some form of a weapon. Most of them are clad in armor, and some carry a bow and arrow with that oddly familiar green feather at the nock, which I quickly recognize to be the symbolic color of the Sorian kingdom.

"King Yungjae has broken the proposition!" the cloaked man shouts, causing a few shouts of dismay to escape from the crowd of soldiers.

"Hold on a moment.." Jungwon trails off with his eyebrows deeply knit together in a frown. "Was my fathers proposition to offer Minji to your kingdom?" he questions, almost sounding deeply offended.

I stealthily begin to reach behind myself blindly, feeling around before my hand lands on the cool metal hilt of Jungwon's sword.

"So, your king lies then.." the cloaked man trails off, ignoring Jungwon's question as I hear a chorus of footsteps approaching even closer. As I see a numerous amount of soldiers approach Jungwon and I in my peripheral vision, I don't waste another second before swiftly pulling Jungwon's sword from its sheath, pushing him off of myself as I face the soldiers behind him with wide eyes.

"You leave the prince and I alone this instant!" I shout defensively while slightly panting, briefly meeting eyes with Jungwon's wide and stunned ones.

"I would not do that if I were you, earthling," the cloaked man taunts, making me swing the sword around as I abruptly turn to face him. The sword tip almost reaches the center of his throat, just inches away from piercing his delicate skin.

"You are going to let Jungwon and I go freely, unharmed. The both of us, or else," I threaten intimidatingly, ignoring the tremble in my hands as it seems like I'm the one more scared than the man with the sword to his throat.

"Minji, drop the sword," Jungwon whispers from behind me as I feel him place a hand on my waist again. "Drop the sword," he repeats, making me shake my head in protest as I try to keep myself composed.

"Listen to the man, if you were smart you'd better lower the sword," the man taunts in amusement, making a tinge of rage flow through my blood.

"Go through the portal, Minji," Jungwon sternly commands from behind me, making me let out an irritated huff before I turn on my heels to face him with a scowl.

"You must think I'm an idiot if you think I am just going to leave you here," I remark bitterly before abruptly grabbing onto his hand and instantly setting off into the portal besides us, pulling Jungwon along with me as I hear the shouts of the soldiers slowly fade away until i'm met with nothing but the welcoming silence.