LOVE MAZE - V . Kim Taehyung [BTS | AU]

Prologue - First Snow

The first snowfall. Tiny cotton-like snows slowly descending down, creating a feel of being in a heavenly paradise where all worries were washed away by this pure white scenery. But with all of that, my eyes were fixated at only one place. I couldn't get my eyes off at the woman I loved. Not from far, she was standing there as I turned my heavily injured body to the back, just to look at her. Like all other men would yearn for once that the woman they loved would smile back at them but my prayer wasn't been heard. Her face, as pale as the first white snow, her dark pupils gradually losing their souls, and her lips were not as luxuriously red as before. They were all chapped by days without a single touch from water. Both our eyes connected, we felt the same way. Pain, anger, despair, and regrets. Different emotions were dwelling inside our minds as we thought that we're so close in reaching our goals; running away from the kingdom as convicts, finding a hidden place to create a family of four kids with three sons and a daughter, and live till our silver hairs grew as many as we wanted over seasons by seasons. But this dream has turned to ashes by that struck of an arrow into her chest seconds ago.

The love of my life, Y/N, quietly grasping for the remaining air sitting in her lungs and she exhaled bits of white fogs from her mouth. The white hanbok she was wearing soon dyeing itself with crimson red from her chest area where it was pierced by an arrow. My vision, though wasn't clear as my stamina was now at its limit, her lips were mouthing something.

"T..T...Ta..e.."

Her voice, softer than the falling snow, I could only sensed what she was saying but it's definitely the word I was so used to hearing from her bubbly voice.

Flashback immediately took over my vision with all the countless moments when Y/N and I were still living peacefully in the kingdom that was now known as our prison. We were not at first in favor with one another. Both of us would tease, making bets to fulfill the winner's request, shamelessly running down the market alleyways just to hit each other. Those scenes, would forever become a part of my memory. 

I helplessly crawled bit by bit towards her but our distance was too far apart even if it just only needed a few steps of sprint, if only I had my strength back... 

"Y/N....!" I called out to her. My voice was coarse, unbearable to be heard. But I just wanted to call out her name, letting her know to not loose her consciousness.

Her body was slightly losing its support as it swayed a little. Her eyes smiled at me. 

"T..Tae..hyung.. ah.."

With her final breath, she finished her last sentence and her body collapsed onto the ground like a soulless doll. 

Devastated by that moment, my mind was jolted by an electrical pulse and it went blank. I couldn't care less about my facial expression showing on my blood stained face that was caused by the earlier battles I had when I was rescuing Y/N out from the royal prison. An innocent girl shouldn't die in vain just like that...!

"Y/N!!! NO!!!!!!"

I burst my frustration out loud. My tears couldn't keep themselves and they streamed down to my cheeks. I cried out her name repeatedly, in hope of her to open her eyes again and got up from the cold hard ground that was now piled up with snow.

"Ughh... You traitor..."

A different voice abruptly responded to my call. It was a man's voice, not youthful, but a solemn one of what a 50 year old man would sound like. I heard armors clanking at each other and the sound of a sword thrusting into the snowy ground. 

That old man wasn't dead yet, or I should address him; the mayor. The culprit who killed my love and her family. I forced my body to be in an upright position and pulled a distance away from him. My face looking at him, boiling with hatred. I could still feel my lower rib cage burning in pain after one of his pawns swung his sword and cut across that area earlier on but was later killed by my reflex action with my sword thrusting into his abdomen. But that wasn't the only pawns he had, there were still one remaining standing from afar, awaiting for the mayor's signal to fire the final arrow shot at me like how it did to Y/N.