𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐭𝐮𝐬 (𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙! 𝐟𝐟)

0 ꕥ 2

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02. SCΩLD
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"Hongjoong, I'm home!" Azalea yells as she hops off Tabitha's steed and opens the gate which rings the bells tied to it, alerting her older brother of her arrival. Guiding the horse to the stables on the side of their little cottage where it can rest, she fails to see Hongjoong emerge from the house. Instead, hearing the loud thumps of what seems to be an axe against a hunk of wood. Azalea tells Tabitha to get off and follow her around to the back where she suspects her brother to be, waiting as the white-haired woman grabs a suspicious looking scroll from one of the bags attached to the horse. "What's that?"

"You'll see soon enough," Tabitha presses her lips together, already knowing what kind of reaction the news she has to bring will get out of Azalea. The brown haired girl leads her to the back of the house where the lean man they were looking for stands, working hard to chop up the wood he has siting on a log. He brings his axe up over his head, his arm muscles straining against his dirty cotton shirt that's damp with sweat. Before he brings the axe down on the poor log, azalea calls.

"Hongjoong!" She declares, stopping the man mid swing. He puts the axe down and turns around to face them, his expression lighting up when he catches sight of the white-haired woman standing a few feet behind Azalea.

"Tabitha," he smiles politely, rubbing the sweat off his forehead which was causing his hair to stick to his temples. The top buttons of his shirt are undone and showcasing part of his toned chest and the bottom of his shirt is tucked into his brown leather pants. Even in the humid weather, all sweaty and sticky from chopping up logs, the man looks good. "You should've told me you were coming, I would've at least showered before hand."

"Hongjoong," the white-haired woman addresses him with a complacent nod, averting her eyes from his exposed chest. "I was going to send a palace pigeon to let you know but I ran into this one instead." She points a gloved finger at Azalea who smiles from ear to ear causing Hongjoong to raise a brow.

"You know, how about we go inside before discussing what she has done this time?" He sighs which arouses a protest from Azalea's behalf.

"Joongieee, You haven't even heard what she has to say and you're already assuming I did something wrong!"

"Well, did you?" He asks in return, giving her a knowing look in response to a guilty face. He walks over to a metal tub where cold clean water awaits for him to splash on which removes dirt and wood chips he collected from his earlier activities. When he arrives, he removes his shirt in one swift movement and directs his attention back at Tabitha. "So, what exactly did my bothersome sister do this time?" Walking over to the doorway next to the water tub and leaning on it, Tabitha replies. There's smirk plastered on her face as she sees Azalea giving her a pleading look which goes unnoticed by Hongjoong who's fiercely washing the grime off his face.

"She got into a... misunderstanding with someone I was on the job with." Azalea sighs in relief hearing the woman cover for her. "Nothing over the top, but you know your sister. Fiery tongue that one." Hongjoong finishes scrubbing dirt from his torsos and dries it off with a cloth hanging over the side of the tub, picking up an extra clean shirt he had brought with him and putting it on; blissfully unaware of Tabitha's stare. Azalea does catch on, though, snickering.

"Someone you were on the job with?" Hongjoong repeats after a moment, confused. "You don't usually chaperone, though. Unless, it's someone important to the palace and even then most of the elite don't even take a step beyond those lavish gates. Is there something going on up there we should know about?" Tabitha and Hongjoong lock eyes, a sad, regretful expression taking over her sharp features. It's an odd thing for someone as usually confident, and commanding as Tabitha.