Queen of Roses

46) Promise

"How do I look?" He asked, puffing his chest out and furrowing his dark brows in a mockingly serious expression. Chaeyoung could not help but laugh at the scene, his expression reminding her very much of how he looked at her when they first met. 

She take a step forward and swept her hands across his steel breastplate, brushing the dust off it while he peered down at her through his dark, thick lashes. Where would she even begin to answer his question? How could she find the right words to describe how attractive, capable, and charming he looked in battle armour? How was she to explain the simultaneous fluttering and pain in her heart upon seeing him prepare for war?

"You look alright, I guess," she shrugged, glancing up at him with a playful glint in her eyes. 

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his armour-enshrouded chest. Then he bent his head ever-so-slightly to murmur in her ear, "you are just not used to seeing me with so much clothes on."

Chaeyoung gasped, immediately pulling away and smacking his chest. Unfortunately, the only one hurt by that action was herself, the metal truly steel-strong against her bare knuckles. 

Taehyung laughed wholeheartedly as she clutched her hands together in pain. Before she had time to even glare at him, his expression had already turned grim again. 

"Listen," he took her hands and placed them on his chest again, holding them there with his own while gazing down at her, "if something happens – "

"No," she cut him off adamantly, "nothing is going to happen. In fact, I forbid it. You are not allowed to get hurt."

"Is that an order, your majesty?"

"Yes."

Stifling an amused laugh, he pulled her into his steel-clad arms. Instinctively, she returned his embrace, her hands gripping his waist tight and her lungs inflating purely with his scent. She allowed herself to dwell in this tranquil state for as long as possible – actively pushing away any words remotely related to goodbye.

Chaeyoung buried her face in the crook of his neck, not bothering to hide her tears that had already dampened his skin, "you must return to me just like this. With that same easy smile and warm embrace. I will not settle for anything less."

"Knowing that you are awaiting me," he whispered in her hair, "how could I not return?"

She pulled back slightly to look up into his deep eyes with her own glossy ones, "promise?"

"Promise."

Pulling away, he locked his long pinky finger with hers before pressing a soft kiss to her hand. And then, he turned around and began to follow the rest of the army that had already begun to depart for the western hemisphere of the battlefield.

His fingers seemed to release hers in slow-motion, as if neither of them ever wished to let go. Even as her hand fell to her side in defeat, his warm touch lingered on her skin.

She watched him walk away in silent agony. Suddenly the prospect of a bloody, devastating war was becoming all too real. And much too quickly. She thought she had spent the last few days mentally preparing herself for this final battle, but as she watched the other half of her heart walk directly towards it, she realized she was wrong.

The war was here, and she was not ready.

~{❀}~

D-day

Seokjin strolled through the familiar streets of Goryeo's capital city, Namgyeong, completely immune to the mass panic all around him. Citizens, from peasants to nobles alike, were currently running around the market with flying hats and dishevelled hair. With an amused chuckle, Seokjin realized they looked like chickens with their heads cut off, each of them scrambling to hide their treasures and their families in a futile attempt to save them. But the country was in a state of civil war and their efforts would be in vain.