The Story of Hwayang and Yeonhwa

CH. 5: Meetings & Explanations

Hwayang was still wandering through the village. Then, his ears picked up some commotion ahead rushing his way. Curiosity killed him to turn his head to the front and search for what was going on.

All he caught were two girls running through the crowd, and one was pulling the other with her. The one in the front had a low braid, and she wore some rich-looking maid clothes, but Hwayang couldn't see the other girl as clearly. She wore a coat covering over her head and body, and all he could catch a glimpse of was the bottom part of her hanbok.

When they rushed past him, he just gazed at them, wondering why they were running and what they were trying to escape from. Then, he heard more footsteps.

"Move out of the way!"

"Someone stop those two girls!"

Hwayang saw two buff males also dashing through the crowd, and they did not look happy. Now, he was starting to question who were real bad guys were. The two males ran right past him, chasing after the other girls who just vanished behind him.

Hwayang huffed out a breath, then tilted his head. He knew he shouldn't be getting himself involved, and he didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to put a stop to this before it could even get more out of hand.

He peered his head to the side and saw a small alleyway between two booths. After taking one last look back at the two guys who just rushed past him, he also quickly ran to the alley.

The only thing he could hope to look for was luck. And of course, who was the real innocent person and who was the one at fault.

Yeonhwa and Jungseol finally ran behind a building and squatted down to hide. They panted heavily as they cautiously made sure they weren't in sight at all.

"Your Majesty." Jungseol said to the Princess. "Are you okay?"

Yeonhwa shook her head and gripped onto her coat more. "I'm alright." she assured. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Your Majesty. What matters more now is getting you to safety."

Yeonhwa slowly panted, steadying her breaths.
Many things ran through her head. Her day was just going great, and now it's taken over by some thieves who may possibly want to hurt her. If she returned to the Flower Palace and explained what happened, the King and Queen might never grant her access to go out again.

"Where did they go?!"

Jungseol gasped loudly, and Yeonhwa quickly covered her mouth and hushed her.

"They just came this way, didn't they?"

"Come on, split up. We have to find them and teach that rich brat a lesson."

The girls heard the footsteps disappearing as both of the males separated.

Yeonhwa pulled back her hand from her maid's mouth, then looked around them for any danger.

"Princess Yeonhwa." Jungseol whispered. "You must make a run for it."

Yeonhwa looked at her in confusion. "What?" she replied.

"I'll distract those two guys. And while I do that, please get away as far as possible."

The Princess furiously shook her head. "No, I'm not running away. What about you?"

"Please don't worry about me, Your Majesty. I'll be okay."

"No, Jungseol, you must not!" Yeonhwa harshly whispered back. "I order you to stay by my side!"

"I need to keep you safe, Princess. And to do that, I must do whatever I can. Even if it means risking myself."

Yeonhwa shook her head as her eyes were colored with fear.