common / ˈkämən
occurring, found, or done often; prevalent.
•••
I always saw beautiful works of art and unique warriors in battle growing up.
I set high expectations for myself. I wanted to be just like the artists and soldiers. They were my idols.
But I was always stuck in the 'gap.'
I could never get it right. I could never be like them.
Why was that?
•••
I watched as Kan Tae-jun charged at his own soldiers.
He was once a general's son that I couldn't respect. He wanted to claim the throne, he wanted to marry Princess Yona when she was only nine. The princess refused.
So he tried again when she was ten.
And when she was eleven.
I wasn't with her, but I can only guess that he tried again when she turned twelve.
But now, he's different. He wasn't like before. Now, the headstrong boy who wanted to marry the princess was crying and risking his life for one girl.
One single girl that didn't care about her status anymore.
All I could do was furrow my eyebrows and stand next to the warm fire with thousands of questions on the flat of my tongue.
He probably won't see the princess again. He won't be able to capture or do whatever he wanted to do with the young girl. Yet he still made his way over to the soldiers and told them to turn around.
"They left." Hak mumbles. I turn my head to look at him. He watched the soldiers turn around walk away, Tae-jun walking in the back.
"Will that man really be alright?" Kija asks, running his slender fingers through his hair. Every few minutes, I'd catch him staring at me. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew who I was. Stupid Orange Dragon.
"Perhaps," Yona responds. I suppose, in the end, Tae-jun was fortunate that he could see the princess. "If he's absent-minded like the time be shot the signal flare."
"That seems like him." Yoon sighs. My eyes flicker around the sky. It was completely black, with a few specks of light dotted around the sky. There was no colorful sunset to admire anymore.
'When will you tell them? When will you use my dragon strength and show them my power? Your power!' The dragon asks.
"Never. Or at least, not until I need to." I reply. If I was standing directly next to the others, they'd hear me. Luckily, I was a few feet away from them.
Sometimes, I think about where I was a few days ago. About a month ago, I was at the palace. I was supposed to marry the king. But I didn't stay put. I couldn't stay put.
If Soo-won loved me, and Ik-soo thinks I love Soo-won, what does that mean? Does it even mean anything? Probably not. Romance isn't necessary. I shouldn't need it. I don't need it.
I have a feeling I was reported as 'dead,' or something like that in the records. Soo-won saw me 'commit suicide.' He saw it with his own two eyes.
So the next time we meet, how will we meet?
With silence? Or perhaps something else?
•••
Hak walks around Katan Village. He was bored out of his mind after guarding the village the other night.
Every once in awhile, he'd look left, then right, making sure there were no bandits entering the village.
His sapphire eyes landed on a silver-haired man who held a packed lunch close to his chest. The man slowly tip-toed around the village, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Hak decided to slowly creep up on the man, wanting to have some fun for once.
The silver-haired man immediately noticed and screeched when he saw Hak.
Hak rubs his eyes, a little tired but also wanting his act to be believable. "I wonder if I'm seeing things. Apparently, I can see the second son who caused trouble and ran off the other day."
"You've got the wrong person..." The man replies, quickly looking away.
Hak takes the tan cloth that was wrapped around the blade of his glaive and pushes it into the side of a tree, right next to the man.
"I see. The wrong person. Then you're suspicious. The penalty is death." Hak glares at the man.
"Tae-jun! I'm Kan Tae-jun!" The silver-haired man yells, dropping the boxed lunch.
"I see. You're very suspicious. The penalty is death."
"I'm dead either way?!" Tae-jun screams. He then relaxes his shoulders and stares at Hak with a tint of pink on his cheeks. "I wanted to see Princess Yona... could you pass this on to her?" Tae-jun says, picking up his boxed lunch and holding it out for Hak to take. "It's fine... I haven't told those at the office of my whereabouts."
Hak stays silent.
"Say something, Hak!"
"I took a short nap before I went on guard last night and dreamt that you carelessly broke your promise three times in a row. I wanted to kill you." Hak lies, trying to intimidate Tae-jun. He hadn't had gotten any sleep at all.
"I came today because I have something I want to give the princess. It's this!" Tae-jun exclaims, holding up the boxed lunch excitedly.
"Hak, that's..." Yona notices the silver-haired man as Hak picks him up. Kija accompanied her, confused. "You're here again, Tae-jun?"
Tae-jun nods in response as Hak violently drops him. "I am visiting today to..." he pauses. "U-um... to give you a gift..."
Hak takes the boxed lunch from Tae-jun and opens it up. Inside were small biscuits, at least thirty of them.
"White Snake, open your mouth." Hak holds a biscuit in front of Kija's mouth, waiting for him to eat it.
Kija happily ate it. It was free food, after all.
"How is it?" Hak asks.
"It's rather delicious. It's light, but it has a deep flavor that lingers inside your mouth, faintly like spring." Kija replies, satisfied.
"Alright. You can eat this, Princess." Hak turns and holds out the box for Yona to take.
"Wow! I'm delighted! Thank you!" Yona smiles, staring at Tae-jun. Yona turns to face the villagers. "Get in line, everybody! It's only a little, though."
Tae-jun stares in confusion as Yona passes out the biscuits. "Princess! I wanted to give that to you..."
"They've all had almost nothing to eat since this morning, so this is helpful," Yona replies.
Tae-jun's eyes widen, shocked that the villagers haven't eaten much.
"Princess, are you getting enough to eat?" Tae-jun asks.
"Me? I'm fine. I'm healthy. I had enough food to last anyone a lifetime when I was a child. Food is a luxury not everyone gets in the times we're living in." Yona smiles, although the was sadness lacing her soft voice.
"That's..." Tae-jun wants to reply, but stays silent.
"I've been thinking about it lately. If the extravagant things I had thrown away back then were brought back here... if that had happened, would that have made the country more equal?" Yona sighs. "As if. I've come to understand that even something like that isn't so simple."
Tae-jun wanted to ask the princess why she was living in a place like Katan Village and why she was pretending to be a bandit. But for some reason, he was unable to say anything more.
"Mister." A child tugs in Tae-jun's clothes. "Is there any food for my mother?"
"That was all I brought. There's no more..." Tae-jun replies. The child walks away, their stomach growling. But Tae-jun pulls out a small bottle full of water and passes it to the child. "There's water. I only have this for now. Tomorrow I'll bring your mother's food too."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
The child happily runs away, and that moment, Tae-jun was confused. What was he doing? He was the proud son of the Fire Tribe Chief, Kan Soo-jin (with capitals. His father was his idol, so he deserves it). His human worth was different from these people. He didn't know what to do.
•••
"What? You got another companion while I was away?" Jae-ha asks, munching on a tangerine from Yoon's garden.
"No! That guy is the son of the Fire Tribe chief! He's our enemy!" Kija yells.
"Interesting. Normally someone like that can't get near Yona."
"It's complicated, but..." Kija looks at Tae-jun who was staring at the princess in awe. "When you see him like that, I get very suspicious of him."
"We know him personally," I say. "Though he is rather annoying. When I see him like that, I get suspicious of him." I point at Tae-jun who creepily watches Yona's every move, even if she was doing something as unamusing as laundry.
The man bows and holds out a small bag. "Princess Yona! I have brought back some chestnut buns!"
"Oh, thank you!" Yona smiles. "Hey everyone!" She holds up the bag.
"Wait a second, Princess!" Tae-jun yells. "I already gave the villagers lunch. Please eat this yourself, Princess."
"Thank you" Yona stares at the pouch. It had a floral print and was carefully tied to prevent the buns from falling out. "Here." She sticks a chestnut bun in Tae-jun's mouth, surprising him. "Tae-jun. you haven't eaten since this morning either, right?"
And Tae-jun slowly falls onto the dirt path, blushing, probably because Yona just fed him.
"That person is definitely going to become a disadvantage for the princess." Kija sighs.
"Well, he definitely has some similarities to you," Jae-ha replies.
"How?!"
•••
"He was right..." Tae-jun stares at the princess in awe. "The Princess does have the most energy..."
"Yeah," Yoon says, a little annoyed at Tae-jun.
"How come the villagers here don't work? Isn't it their own fault, that they have no money to pay taxes?" Tae-jun asks, clearly not understanding how difficult it is to make money in the Fire Tribe lands.
"What do you mean by 'work?'" Yoon questions.
"Something like... grow rice and vegetables. Do business."
"The fields over there have been dried up for many years. Nothing will grow there. It's the same pretty much everywhere around here. To revive the fields, you need time to get rich water and fertile soil. Not to mention a ton of manpower." Yoon explains. "However, there are only elderly sick people, women, and children left in the village."
"Now that you mention it, there are no young men here. What happened?"
"They got taken away! To become soldiers! By your father's orders, Kan Soo-jin!" Yoon yells, anger and displeasure lacing his voice.
"Then there's no helping it. It's expected that people that lice in the Fire Tribe follow my father's orders." Tae-jun sighs as a chicken pecks his finger.
"So, who's side are you on? Yona's claimed this land as her own, but this is still technically your father's land."
"I want the princess to stop pretending like she's a bandit! If she needs to cut ties with you people, I'll get a residence." Tae-jun retorts.
"Don't you know that Yona—"
"Yoon," Yona interjects. "If you raise your voice, the people in the village will get scared."
"Oh, sorry." Yoon apologizes and returns to silently doing laundry. "It's just that this guy doesn't understand anything."
"You really don't know how to speak politely!" Tae-jun fumes.
"Tae-jun. I'm going to go around to check up on the villagers. Would you like to come with me?" Yona asks.
"Yes!" Tae-jun quickly responds. He loved walking side by side with Princess Yona. He felt special.
•••
"Uncle Se-dol, how is the harvest?" Yona inquires.
"Not good. I went and gathered some nuts and fruits from the tree but..." Uncle Se-dol trails off. "Since there might have been food, I went out and got some grass from the surrounding area. They might be poisoned though. I'll ask Yoon about it later."
Tae-jun was disgusted that these elderly villagers ate weeds.
"Wait a second." Yona draws her bow and aims at a small bird soaring through the sky. Pulling an arrow as far back as possible, she releases the arrow. She catches the bird before it touches the ground. "Here. This is for dinner."
"You've gotten a lot better, Yona." Se-dol praises. Yona smiles before walking away to check on the other villagers.
"Before you asked why they don't work. Here, gathering food and taking care of children is hard work." Yona says. "We're just helping them right now. However, there is nothing stored and they can't pay their taxes. Even though it's frustrating, there's a limit to how much we can do." She peeks into a beaten-down house.
"Grandma Mi-rae! How are you feeling?" She asks.
"Not good, obviously. My joints hurt. Not to mention it's cold in here." An elderly woman with a messy bun relies.
"You're right. There's a draft in here. Hold on, I'll fix it." Yona says, noticing a small hole in the wall.
"Who is this dull man? Where's that usual man? The dark-haired one?" Mi-rae asks.
"Hak?" Yona questions.
"That man is really nice and handsome. Not only does he have a strong arm, but he's also sexy. Don't bring this guy. Bring that guy."
"How rude! I'll have you know I'm the Fire Chief's—" Tae-jun yells but gets cut off.
"Tae-jun." Yona places a finger on her mouth, and Tae-jun remembers that he's technically not supposed to be here.
"What? There's a reason you're here? I don't really care anyway. More importantly, I'll have you rub my shoulders." Mi-rae sighs.
"Why me?!" Tae-jun asks.
"Please? I need to fix this hole in the wall." Yona begs.
"There's no problem!" Tae-jun's mood changes as he begins to squeeze (yes, squeeze) Mi-rae's shoulders.
"That hurts!" Mi-rae yells and slaps Tae-jun's cheek. "A woman's body is delicate! Massage it as if you're handling silk!"
And so Tae-jun tries again.
And gets slapped again.
So he tries once more.
But he still gets slapped.
"Why is she treating me like this?" Tae-jun asks. "Me of all people... me!"
"No one said that they wanted you to do it. I want that other man instead." Mi-rae says.
"Stop being so full of yourself! If this were Saika you would be... you would be..."
Tae-jun glances at Yona, who's focused on repairing the wall.
He noticed that the princess hadn't said a word of complaint. The most revered person in the country. The sounds of her hammering were uneven, but she was enthusiastic about it.
He clenches his fists before looking at Mi-rae. "Lady Mi-rae?"
But he notices a raven-haired man and an orange-haired woman instead. Yes, orange.
A very, very light orange. The shade of fresh honey.
•••
Words: 2508
Himari doesn't speak that much, but I think that's mainly because this arc is centered around Tae-jun, who has some major character development.
In a way, this is an important arc.
I said this is the bonus chapter, but thank you for 1000 reads :)
Have a great day/night!