Those of Us Alone

Chapter 44: We're Staying a Bit Longer Here Than I Thought

"What?" Though seemingly confused, Chul tried his best to keep himself calm.

A kind smile crossed the King's face as he continued, "Your hairstyle . . . it matches his." 

This was true, though, from what I've seen, Chul isn't the only one who was sporting the same hairstyle in the Earth Tribe. Most of the tribesmen wore their hair the same way.

"Oh," Chul smiled looking down with a little bit of embarrassment, "well, it's because he looked really cool and brave on the battlefield. He's admired by everyone. They want to be like him, even if it is just a little bit." Seeming to relax a bit, Chul continued, "Between you and me, becoming that man's advisor was very competitive too." Realizing what he said, Chul was quick to ask, "Oh, but please don't tell him. He would make fun of me and get cocky."

"Well, well," Soo-won began, "if he's that cool, I want to see it." Turning to Chul for reassurance, he asks, "Surely everyone else wants very badly to see General Geun-tae's valiant figure as well, right?"

Chul gave a sad smile, but answered anyway, "Well, yeah, but . . . There isn't a battle going on, so . . ."

"I see," Soo-won said, a glint in his eye appearing, "Well then . . ."

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was sitting next to Soo-won again. I was intending to be honorable and respectful while we were here, but really, I was having the hardest time containing my laughter. Though with Soo-won's new plan, we would be stuck in Chi'shin for another week at least, it was absolutely hilarious to watch Joo-doh try to hold back Geun-tae when he found out that this 'battle' the King was having was a mock battle.

"Oh, what is it, Joo-doh, you lucky - is what I wanted to say, but thank you," growled a slightly annoyed Geun-tae, "My hands just formed fists on their own. Thank you for stopping them for me."

I was snickering now, but seeing as there was a tea pot in front of me, I did my best to contain my laughter as I turned to Soo-won after filling my own cup again, "Would you like some more tea?"

A bright smile crossed his face before he held out his cup, "Sure! Thank you, Midori."

Turning back to the two Generals, Joo-doh spoke, "What the Hell were you going to do to His Majesty - is what I wanted to say, but I understand your feelings."

I scoffed, before muttering, "That's a first."

I managed to get some laughter out of the King, but Joo-doh continued, "If you didn't do it, then I would have." He then turned to the two of us - Soo-won and I - and began to lecture, "Your Majesty! Haven't I told you: we don't have the free time to play around like that!"

"Well, every once in a while, you should have a little fun too," said the King, waving off Joo-doh's concern.

Deciding that I was the best bet at convincing the King from doing this, Joo-doh turned to me, "What about you? We're taking Midori back to Fuuga! Is this really fair to her? Midori, can't you say something to convince him?"

Sighing, I spoke calmly, "If I couldn't convince him to skip this stop, what makes you think I can stop him from this idea?"

"We have the preparations too," Soo-won argued, turning the conversation away from me, "So, shall we hold the opening ceremony a week from now?"

While his hands were still balled into fists, Geun-tae spoke, "Your Majesty . . . The Earth Tribe doesn't have time to play with you. Return to Hiryuu Castle." 

"Whaaat?" Chul spoke up, disappointed.

A few others, including the elder Hee-dae, came up also disappointed, "We're not going to do it? We were secretly looking forward to it . . ."  

Geun-tae snapped, and he spoke to those disappointed folk, "Why do you guys suddenly want to play around?"

"It's not that I want to play around," Soo-won spoke up, a smug smile on his face.

"Huh?"

Soo-won sipped his tea before turning to face Geun-tae, "General Geun-tae, you are unaware of your own charm." Geun-tae had gotten this annoyed look on his face, and as Soo-won set his cup on the table, I moved to refill it, "Oh, later on," he took notice of what I was doing, "Thank you. Later on, I would like to visit those who were injured in the Udo mine, you'll have to lead me there." 

________________________________________________________________________________

Hi!

Another update before I have to go to work.

I hope you guys like this arc. It's not a long one, and I'm doing it in Midori's POV - which means that it won't be as long cause these chapters in the manga are dependent upon Geun-tae's internal thoughts, so if you want to know those, just check the manga chapter 44.

Anyway, I hope you like it,

~Ashley