Her fingers twitched.
Seungmin lightly gasped when noticing that. He immediately took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, silently praying that this time, she will wake up.
Wake up, love...
Then, she moved her head to the side subtly. Her eyes tried to open. Seungmin's lips curled up into a bright smile as soon as she opened her eyes. He almost cried.
"Eunkyung," he breathed out before planting a long kiss on her hand that he gripped in between both of his hands. "Oh my, I thought you're leaving me."
The girl squinted her eyes at the bright light. Her forehead creased in lines as confusion immediately hit her, "Min...?"
"You were unconscious for almost a week."
"Wait," she whimpered in pain when her head suddenly throbbed. She looked at him weirdly. Her eyes examined his condition.
If she was not mistaken, Seungmin bled on his head. But he looked so fine. As if he was not hurt.
Her hand slowly went up to caress his cheek. Seungmin leaned in with his eyes closed. Eunkyung let out the breath she was holding.
He's real.
"I miss you so much." the male muttered as he laced their fingers together. "It felt like the world is ending when I found out what happened."
The memories slowly flooded her mind. She looked around only to see white ceiling in a small room of one patient. "H-han? And Yuns–"
"Jisung is gone," Seungmin looked down while playing with her fingers. "But Yunseo is still alive."
"What?" her voice came out almost like a whisper. "T-that can't be true I'm sure I killed him I stabbed him on the chest..."
"Eunkyung," he stroke her hand with his thumb. "I'll call the doctor now, alright? They say you need a check up."
"No, Seungmin. Wait." she grasped his hand but he pushed it lightly. A small smile appeared on his face. He turned around to the door. As he opened it, a brighter light shone her way. Eunkyung covered her eyes with her hand and yelled, "Seungmin!"
"I'll be back." his voice was heard clearly despite him had exited the room. The girl flinched.
"I will be back, Eunkyung. I promise."
Her eyes opened wide abruptly.
It felt like the world froze for a second. She just woke up with a deep intake of breath and now she couldn't move. All she could see right now was a white ceiling.
"She's awake." a hurried voice called next to her. Eunkyung slowly turned her head to the side to see Eunji and Yoongi rushing to call the doctor.
Her heart plummeted.
Was that... a dream?
"My baby, oh my god." a wailing could be heard upon someone entering the room. The queen wiped her tears with a tissue and embraced the laying girl, crying. Though her action was a bit harsh for someone who just woke up, Eunkyung couldn't feel anything. Her body was numb. Her mind was blank.
The doctor and nurses came to check her condition. They asked her a few questions and it brought a huge wave of relief to the family when knowing nothing bad occured. She still remembered everything, and there isn't any crucial damage on her body.
Time passed by in blur. Eunkyung could only hear muffle around her even though her family was hugging and feeding her. She stared off nowhere. Her mind kept thinking about the dream.
The dream.
"Yunseo..." she muttered, surprising them. Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned to her father. "Is he still alive?"
The king's facial expression fell. He sighed and shook his head. "Two stabs on the chest won't make him survive."
The queen lightly slapped his arm, "Don't tell me you're disappointed that he died, honey. He's the reason why this happened to our child."
"I am not disappointed," he denied but still looked worried. "I just need to hear from his mouth who else is working with him in our place other than the maid."
Oh, Eunkyung thought. I didn't think of that.
"How about... Han?" she recalled her dream. "Is he alive?"
"He's currently in the dungeon after receiving treatment." Eunsoo stated while caressing her youngest sister's hand using her thumb. "They cannot sentence him to death because the crime he did towards Mina happened when he was a minor. And he said he has something to confess."
Eunkyung exhaled. Her breath shaky. "He saved me from Yunseo that night."
"Come again?"
"How long have I been out?"
"Three days, honey." the queen spoke softly. "What did you say again? Han Jisung saved you?"
She slowly nodded, "One of the blade was his."
"Both of them were yours, what do you mean by that?" Eunhee snapped.
"He took my blade when I was unconscious on the night of my birthday."
"And? You want to free him? Make up your mind, Eunkyung. Han Jisung is Cho Yunseo's right man and he deserves to be sentenced to death. You've been friends with the wrong guy in the first place that's why you are always in danger!"
The whole room fell silence. Eunkyung just stared at her sister who had a red face and teary eyes. The youngest scoffed, "If he's Yunseo's right man then he must know who else is working with him. That's all."
Embarrassed, Eunhee grunted and left the room. Eunkyung turned to Eunji who remained silent all the time, "She's still guilty, isn't she?"
The rest of them stifled a laugh, knowing well the cold war that's still lingering between them.
"We will interrogate Han Jisung and Lim Saehui then." Yoongi said. "Lim Saehui is the maid you caught, Eunkyung. She admitted it."
"Your majesty," a guard walked in and bowed. "Her royal highness Princess Eunkyung has a visitor."
Said girl suddenly became nervous. Her family left the room and not long after, a figure walked in. He did a 90 degrees bow.
"Your highness,"
"Archer Kim," she breathed out. "Seungmin–"
"He is still unconscious."
Her entire world collapsed.
"Yunseo is still alive." he said.
No, Yunseo is dead.
"Jisung is gone." he confirmed.
No, Han Jisung is still alive in the dungeon.
"You were unconscious for almost a week."
The queen said only for three days.
Maybe, just maybe, the dream told the opposite.
"I will be back, Eunkyung. I promise."
༆
"Pretty Princess!"
A child barged into the room and halted when seeing the princess was reading a storybook on the patient's bed. His eyes widened, "Are you sick?"
"Minhee." she beamed and pat the vacant place next to her. Said boy climbed the bed carefully and leaned forward to examine her.
"Why do you have scars on your face?" he asked innocently.
"I had an accident while practicing sword fighting." she lied. "Do you come here alone?"
He shook his head. "With Mama. Soobin hyung cannot come because he has work at home." as he said that, Wangja came in with her pupils shaking. She slowly went to the bed and observed the princess from head to toe.
"Your highness, are you..." she hesitated but Eunkyung just waited. "Are you... the one who came to the village that night? With another two men? Were you the one who fought the bad man?"
A small smile appeared on her face, "I would like to keep that as a secret, ma'am."
She nodded her head quickly and bowed multiple times. "Thank you, thank you so much for protecting us, Your highness. I couldn't pay you anything for your kindness. But can I know who was the other person? I would like to thank him as well."
"It's Seungmin, Archer Kim's son." her chest was heavy as she said his name. "But he is still unconscious in other room. The doctor couldn't predict when is he waking up."
"I'm sorry for that, Your highness." she looked down. Minhee looked back and forth to the princess and his mother, confused but he didn't say anything.
Eunkyung fondly stroke the boy's head. She whispered, "Minhee, take care of your mother, okay?"
The boy nodded firmly. "Of course!"
"You can do that if I am not here, right? Soobin hyung is still looking after you and your mother."
His expression fell, "Is... is pretty princess going to leave me?"
The princess held back her tears by smiling widely, "I have to leave in a bit for work–"
"Will you come and visit me?" Minhee asked with a pout. He put up his pinky finger, "Promise me you will come back to visit me and Soobin hyung."
She chuckled. She showed her pinky finger and linked it with the smaller. "Promise."
༆
1. two weeks ago i got scolded badly by a customer so the next day when i had two days off i didn't have any motivation.
2. last week i had to work six days instead of five days. so i don't have much time to write.
3. yesterday i went out to settle some work stuffs despite having a day off.
4. this chapter was supposed to be longer but i'll just include the next part on the next chapter because i don't know when the next chapter would be up.
5. this story will end around chapter 60+. just a bit more :)