Royal Bonds | Y.Jw

| 29 |

It was dead silent in dungeon as I stared over at the dark shadows, the small lightbulb beside my cell, cast over Jungwon's features. He sat on the other side of the bars, back leaned against the concrete walls and head leaning aganist the bars. He had come down about twenty minutes ago and was yet to say anything. He just sat there, looking towards the ground in front of him with a blank face.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, making me look up from the bench I was sitting on, "I'm so so terribly sorry Ji," he sighed and rubbed his face in his hands, "I ruined everything."

"You didn't know better," I whispered, "I hadn't told you about the threat.

"You shouldn't have to tell me about it," he shook his head quietly, "I shouldn't have been blinded by my own desires... my blindness overruled all the dangers you pointed out to me time and time again and now you sit there, probably gonna get some sort of terrible punishment because of me... Because for some reason physical punishment is a castle punishment, how stupid."

"Sunghoon promised to cross out the capital punishment for me," I murmured as I carefully glanced over at Jungwon, who just staed at me with big eyes.

"I do not care if they crossed out capital punishment for you!" he exclaimed, "what I care about is that you'll be harmed for my actions!"

I stared at him for a few seconds before just looking down towards the ground again once it went silent and his echoes stopped sounding in the dungeons. A loud sigh escaped Jungwon and I could only imagine him running a hand through his hair as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him, closing his eyes tightly. It was a small series of gestures I had been so used to him doing whenever his dad kept him from doing something or whenever he was frustrated.

"We should run away," he eventually spoke up and I let out a small laugh at him, "we should."

"You can't," I shook my head.

"My sister can take over the position of following my dad, I never really liked the idea of being King anyways," he admitted and I glanced up at him as he scratched the side of his nose.

"You can't run away," I reminded him once again as he just looked over at me, "you don't have any idea all the systems your dad has installed all over the country in case you disappear. You won't even get out of town before you'll be escorted back here."

Loud rustling echoed down the hallway and Jungwon immediately snapped his head towards me with panic written all over his face.

"Jiyeon-ie," Sunghoon's voice called out and I smiled softly.

"It'll be fine," I quietly assured Jungwon, who hesitantly nodded at me before looking back towards Sunghoon rushing down towards us and immediately bowing at Jungwon.

"Your highness," Sunghoon quietly muttered before abruptly turning to me.

"Don't bow to me," Jungwon sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I can't do all of that status shit right now."

"Guilt," I calmly replied to Sunghoon, who frowned over at me.

"Is now a bad time to tell you the sentence you have been given?" Sunghoon hesitantly questioned and glanced down at Jungwon, who kept sitting on the floor.

"Yeah," I nodded at him.

"Not at all," Jungwon shook his head.

Sunghoon hesitated as he glanced between Jungwon and I. I knew very well if Jungwon was gonna tell him to say it Sunghoon wouldn't even hesitate, he had to do as Jungwon said long before he did what I even wanted to mutter.

"Tell her," Jungwon calmly spoke and folded his hands on his knees.

I let out a deep sigh by the fact that Jungwon did the one thing I wanted him to not do. Exactly one thing... and he did it.

"You've been sentenced to public beating," Sunghoon slowly spoke as he looked to me, "at midday."

"When?" I calmly questioned and he sucked in a deep breath.

"Tomorrow."

I quietly looked to Jungwon, who just looked up at Sunghoon with widened eyes. He could ask for me to be released, but he can't give orders on what happens to prisoners before he turns king.

"That can't be right," Jungwon spoke, "there has to be at least a week between imprisonment and punishment."

"The King's order. I can't say anything against that," Sunghoon excused as I smiled softly over at him and just nodded, "I'm sorry Jiyeon."

"It's fine," I assured him, "can you leave now?"

"Of course," he muttered before qucikly nodding and giving Jungwon a small bow before rushing off.

Quickly Jungwon rose to his feet and almost looked like he was contemplating whether or not he would be able to fit in through the bars to my cell, which he obviously couldn't, but he looked like he was going to try. Instead he quietly dropped his head and stuck his hand in between the bars, folding it open and turning the palm upwards.

"Can't you please hold my hand?" Jungwon questioned as I just sat and looked at him, "please?"

"You need to stop Jungwon," I spoke and he glanced up at me, "it's that behavior I buckle into and it's that behavior that'll end up getting me headless."

Even though my words were harsh, they were true and Jungwon knew that. He immediately crouched down on the ground and laid his face in his hands. I quietly sat and watched him, he didn't cry, but I still felt terrible.

"I ruined everything, didn't I?" Jungwon questioned as he looked up again, "even when I was four I knew that this would never work! Yet I still befriended you. How stupid can I be?" he let out a small laugh as he stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of my cell, "so in reality I doomed you even thirteen years ago, my dad just couldn't do anything because you were a kid... but now you're working it makes him able to punish you for all those years he was mad at our friendship. I have doomed you since the beginning... and somehow I knew, I just didn't do anything."

"What even are you saying?" I questioned quietly as he sighed and ran a hand down over his mouth.

"I always knew this was gonna happen, somehow subconsiously, but my egocentric mind didn't care... it only cared about me getting satisfaction from your company," he explained before looking over at me, "so now it's my fault in every possible way that you're gonna get the punishment you're gonna get."

"Jungwon I don't think-" I started before he just interrupted me.

"I have to go," he excused and immediately marched down the hallway, leaving me to spend the night for myself once again.

Not even once did he return to the dungeons.