"You come..."
"...I'm here."
"You come, Pyeha (Your Majesty)..."
"I'm here, Soo..."
"It's really you..."
"Should I kiss you to confirm that it is really me?" Wang So caressed Hae Soo's pale face with concern and great fondness. "What do you want me to do?"
"Please... I want to be embraced," replied Hae Soo, the same fondness was echoing in her tone. "Hug me, please."
Wang So gathered Hae Soo slowly into his arms, to his embrace. Slowly, but tightly. And not long after that, he could feel that once again, there's heaven in this conspiratorial dirty world. His angel was in his arms. "Soo... Hae Soo..."
"Pyeha... Pyeha... Sa Wangjanim (Fourth Prince)..."
"Yes... It's me. Your Fourth Prince."
No matter who Wang So had become right now, for Hae Soo, he would always be her Fourth Prince. The person that had made her fall deeply in love. That person was originally the Fourth Prince of King Tae Joo's son. The wolf-dog that most people were afraid and frightened of. The person that many deemed as the bringer of misfortune, just because of his face had a scar, that not only wasn't his mistake in the beginning but in the end, made his life miserable to the point of abandonment by his mother.
Yes... that was her Fourth Prince. Her beloved person.
No words, or sentences, could compare the feelings that have transpired between Wang So and Hae Soo now. Words failed in front of the deep feelings both of them felt toward each other.
Wang So released Hae Soo a bit and snaked one of his arms around her waist. He pulled Hae Soo closer to him while he put his other hand on Hae Soo's chin and pulled it slowly. He planted a soft kiss on Hae Soo's small but chapped lips, even though he didn't pay any attention to her lips condition. They couldn't hold any longer the bottle-up feelings that were pouring right at the moment.
Slowly, they tasted each other's lips.
One kiss...
Two kisses...
Three kisses...
And they keep going to savor each other's lips.
They didn't feel the need to rush. No hurry. Just the eagerness to always feel each other's lips. The passion was there, but they had passed the urge to be feisty and dominant toward each other. There were times for that. But, at that moment, these were... enough.
After a while, they stopped and looked into each other's eyes. Love was the only one that reflected in each other's eyes.
"I can finally see you again," said Wang So, choking a bit. "Each day... each passing day that we've been apart... There's this part of me that is dying within those days. But now, with you beside me again, it has regained its life. I miss you, Soo... Very much."
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone inside the palace, Pyeha," said Hae Soo in regret. "It's because I have my reason. But the reason is not because of the Eighth Prince. Yes, I once liked him. I even believe that he would take me away, with just the two of us living together. But that was already in the past. Like I have written in one of my letters, my heart is yours... I'm yours ."
"I believe you... I won't let anyone interfere between the two of us again," said Wang So in determination. "My brothers can't. Nothing can hinder me to be with you again. Even you, Soo. You won't get rid of me ever again in this lifetime."
"How great if that can happen."
"It will."
"If you are here, then I suppose you've read my letter, aren't you?"
"I... have."
"What's with the pause?"
"You are sick, Soo. I... I will admit to that," Wang So was struggling with his words. "But you're not dying. I refuse to believe that."
"Pyeha... You are not a doctor."
"Who is-"
"It's not the doctor's fault," Hae Soo cut Wang So before he could rant about the doctor not being qualified enough. "And it's the former royal physician. Someone that had taken great care of me since I was in the palace and later when I moved here. He has known my condition for a long time. It wasn't someone that just knew about my condition recently. Besides... I also could feel it." Hae Soo tried to explain.
"No!" exclaimed Wang So. "Don't say that!"
"Pyeha..."
"I won't believe it!"
"..."
"..."
"Please don't make this more difficult with your denial."
"I am not denying anything."
"Listen to yourself then," said Hae Soo resolutely. "I won't say any more words until we get through this pace. Because it's really just a waste of time."
They stared at each other for several minutes before Wang So yielded and closed his eyes tight. A painful expression marred his handsome face. Opening his eyes, he asked Hae Soo one question and sounded as if someone else was strangling his neck. "Why?"
"Because it's the truth," answered Hae Soo firm, seemingly unfaced with Wang So's inner struggle. "It's a reality that we have to face sooner or later. But in my case, it is the former. And I want you to face it with everything that you've got."
"How can I face the things that I don't want to accept the most?" Wang So in a defeated tone.
"Pyeha, I'm still here with you. And I will help you to face it until you are ready."
"I won't ever be ready."
"Pyeha..." Hae Soo called Wang So pleadingly. "Do you think that I am ready for this? That I want to be apart from you?"
"Then why do you insist on me being ready then?" asked Wang So stubbornly.
"Because I don't want to leave you in this miserable state," answered Hae Soo. "My time is almost up. And I want to spend my remaining time with you, but also want to prepare you for my departure."
"... If only I read your letter much earlier, we won't be having this kind of conversation now."
"That's true..."
"...Dammit, Jung!" Wang So yelled angrily. "That bastard had put your letter inside an envelope with his writing on the envelope! How could I know that it's your letter that is inside those envelopes? He should know that I don't want to have any kind of interaction or whatsoever with him after he took you away!"
"He did that?"
"I will surely make him suffer for those idiot and absurd things he had done!"
"...Please don't."
"You don't have a say in this, Soo."
"If you really will do that, then please go out of my room now. Violence is the last thing on my mind right now. If you can't appease your anger, you will just only waste our remaining time."
"...Why are you always this merciful? You're too easy to forgive someone."
"Even if your brother really did what you've told me, he will receive his retribution later. Whether it was for a good or bad cause, it wasn't something that is the matter right now. You and I, that's what matters, isn't it?"
They stared at each other again and suddenly Jung's matter was pushed behind Wang So's mind. That blasted brother of his wasn't significant enough to ruin their time. However... it also brought back with full force those dreaded feelings of Hae Soo leaving Wang So behind.
"...Will you really leave me behind?"
"...I'm sorry."
"...How can you, Soo?"
"...I'm really sorry."
"Should you really leave me?"
"My time is up, Pyeha. Even if I want to buy it for a longer time, I don't have the ability to do that."
"...I don't want you to leave me."
"Neither do I."
Wang So once again gathered Hae Soo into his arms and hugged Hae Soo tightly. He sank his head into Hae Soo's neck and breathed Hae Soo's scent of body. And with little strength in her body, Hae Soo circled her arms around Wang So's torso and hugged the man tightly.
They need this time to cope with the recent conversation, of how they would be apart again in the very near future.
"How long do you still have?"
"Not long."
"How... long?"
"Soon."
"Soo... Hae Soo..."
And at last, Wang So couldn't hold his tears any longer. He was sobbing silently in Hae Soo's embrace. The parting words were slowly seeping into his mind and within each acceptance, his hold just getting tighter and tighter.
"Soo... Soo... Soo..." said Wang So, repeatedly calling Hae Soo's name. He couldn't utter any other words. He didn't want to acknowledge it, not even in the slightest. Then again, the body that was glued to his body now... It speaks about the volume of the owner's situation.
"Just you know, that I'm yours and will always be yours." Hae Soo tried to comfort his beloved man. "I'm sorry that I can't be together with you like I have promised. But my heart is yours, my body is yours, and all of my beings are yours. No one else owns my being except you, Pyeha."
"I love you, Soo."
"I also love you."
Pregnant silence ensued inside the room, leaving the two to cope with their feelings.
"...Will you really leave me behind? Alone?"
"I'm sor-... Oh." Hae Soo stopped in the middle of the sentence. Something occurred inside her mind suddenly. "I have something for you. Something of my being that will be together with you."
Wang So, a little bit calm already, released Hae Soo. His brows creased a little. "What?''
"Something that you have asked me before back when we were in the palace."
"What do you mean?" Confusion latched in Wang So's tone. "What did I ever ask you to give to me?"
Hae Soo smiled as wide as she could before she dropped the surprise to Wang So, "A child."
"...What?"
"A daughter. We have a daughter, Pyeha."