Until Then (Stray Kids Hwang Hyunjin)

Nine

"Hey," Eunbyul waved with a sweet smile on her face upon seeing Alex.

"Hi," Alex responded through heavy pants.

"Are you okay? You seem out of breath."

"What? Really? I wonder why," Alex retorted sarcastically. "Maybe because I just wandered through an enormous castle trying to find the garden just to be told by the King's servant that I was going in the completely wrong direction."

Eunbyul chuckled a bit only to realise Alex was serious.

"I would have expected the cats to tell you where to go."

"They did but it's not that easy to remember all of the rights and lefts. I get this castle was supposed to be for everyone but did they really have to make it a maze?"

"Sorry about that...also, sorry about what happened yesterday. Hyuna is just really overprotective...and a spoilt brat."

"Yeah, I agree with the last part."

"Anyway, I wanted to show you something."

"What is it?"

"The sunrise," she uttered, gazing at the horizon that was beginning to lighten. "You used to like watching the sunrise."

Alex furrowed her eyebrows. Didn't Jeongin say Eunbyul used to hate her?

He wouldn't lie to her, would he? Or was Eunbyul the one lying?

"Really?" Alex mentioned. "What else did I used to like?"

"The geese and ducks in the pond, I remember you used to sneak bread from the kitchen just to feed them, oh and you loved the dandelions in the far field, although you were allergic to them. To summarize everything, you liked nature and being far from the castle...we both did."

"How do you know so much about who I used to be?"

Eunbyul sighed as she began to walk further from the castle.

"We were friends," she simply said, her voice cracking a bit and now Alex wasn't sure whether she was being sincere or she was that good of an actress.

Alex had always seen Eunbyul as one of the villains and never second-guessed it until now. She only accepted Eunbyul's attempts to befriend her because many years back she had mastered the art of keeping her friends close but her enemies closer.

Maybe Eunbyul had mastered the art as well.

"We were?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah...but we weren't supposed to be. Our families despised each other, in fact, still do but look at us now, going against both our families."

Alex studied her smile, trying to find any visible faults but there were none, it looked completely genuine.

She could be telling the truth.

Trust her.

But there was something off about Eunbyul.

She seemed desperate, and Alex knew that very well, she spent most of her life in that state.

But no one had ever left Eunbyul so why was she so desperate to get Alex's trust and friendship.

"Don't worry, they won't find out," Eunbyul's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "They never did. We were friends since you were eight, I was eleven. But we kept it a secret and acted as though we hated each other in front of everyone else."

Alex couldn't help but sigh. She was so confused. What Eunbyul said made a few pieces of the puzzle match up but she still didn't want to believe her.

Eunbyul took a seat down the middle of the sloping hill.

Wanting some time to think on her own, Alex sat a whole two metres away from Eunbyul.

The sun began to rise and Alex would be lying if she said it wasn't the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Bright red, orange and yellow decorated the skies and the sun's rays gently kissed the fields just by the horizon, slowly making its way across the land.

Alex would have continued watching if she hadn't seen something move swiftly in the forests beside her.

She stared at it for a while before shifting her gaze back to the sunrise but something moved again.

She glanced down at Eunbyul, who was still staring at the mesmerising view.

Stealthily, Alex stood up and made her way to the forest.

She paused right in front of it and gazed inside but she saw nothing.

Right before she could step into the forest, she heard someone called her from behind.

She spun around and saw Eunbyul.

She was standing up, her whole body tensed and her hand balled up into fists. Panic decorated her usually calm face.

Alex glanced back at the forest and saw something move again.

Something was wrong.

"Don't," was all Eunbyul managed to say.

"Don't what?" Alex questioned although she knew the answer.

"Don't go in."

Alex glanced at the forest.

"There's someone in there," she mumbled as she took a step closer.

"Alex!" Eunbyul practically screamed, making the girl freeze.

Her heart began to pound as she glanced at the First Princess once again.

"What did you just call me?" She asked but before she knew it, Eunbyul was sprinting away, back to the castle.

Alex quickly looked back at the forest to see Hyunjin smirking at her but then, in an instant, he was gone.

I just realised almost every chapter ends with Hyunjin 😂😂. Oh well, hope you guys enjoyed this and don't kill me for the cliffhanger.