Dancing on Eggshells | KSJ

03

LUCIA'S FIRST DOZEN PLANS don't go to plan, each time ending up with her being trapped by the annoying knight in one way or another and have the warm buzzing to grace her skin. Each time she is herded back, one of her sisters greets her with mischief dancing on their lips and greetings on their tongues. They are promptly met with a stuck-out tongue.

And thanks to Seokjin's ever-looming presence and stupidly good skills, Lucia ends up attending way more stuffy meetings than she would in a normal month. Not to mention her lessons.

"Tahani, my brain is going to explode if I attend one more lesson. Please, I'm begging you to save me from this fate. I at least want my brain to be intact when I die."

Tahani snorts at the dramatics with the roll of her eyes, "I assure you, you aren't going to die."

"And how do you know? Maybe I have a rare condition that's never been seen before! One that causes the implosion of the brain when it's overworked."

"I doubt it," Tahani rebukes with a poke to Lucia's side. "You can join me and go to the night market tonight. Though I won't stay with you long because-"

"You have a date with your boyfriend, yeah, yeah. You two are such lovebirds, it's going to make me sick," Lucia audibly rolls her eyes only for Tahani to roll hers back.

Lucia ends up in the carriage in between her two very much in love sisters regardless, with Seokjin quietly sitting across from them per Tova's orders. He looked strange, unfamiliar even, dressed in casual slacks and a tucked-in shirt with a shallow v-neck, no armor in sight as he absentmindedly tapped his thigh with his pointer finger.

It is easy to say Lucia is slightly irritated about his presence; she isn't going to be able to run around the market on her own and greet the shopkeepers, who she is only slightly familiar with because of previous, more elaborate escapes.

"I probably won't return tonight, and Liv won't return with you if this ribbon is still tied to the branch by a little after midnight." Tahani is quick to blurt out and just like that, Lucia's sisters had disappeared from the carriage under the hum of the busy market.

"How familiar are you with chasing people in night markets?" Lucia's lips quirk up in a smile as she meets Seokjin's eyes.

"Familiar enough to know to keep a close eye on you the second we step onto the street."

"Drats," Lucia smiles, tiptoeing the edge of the street, not quite wanting to be swept up in the tide of people yet.

Burning kerosene, vanilla candles, sweet lotus perfumes dance and mix under lanterns' light, creating a too soothing atmosphere for elaborate escape plans, quelling the insistent desires for freedom in Lucia's heart. Her heart finds a peace that she has failed to find in a long while, and with this peace, her always present irritation with Seokjin fades, just a little. She swears. Just the tiniest granule bit less than usual.

"Well, the night waits for no one," she shrugs with a smile, stepping into the street and moving into the dizzying tide.

There is no intention to run and incite chaos the second her feet enter the street, and she guesses that Seokjin can tell as much when he matches her casual pace beside her. The silence is blissful under the light as the pair waltz through the crowd around loiterers and customers alike. Tea stained paper and stamps, inkwells and decorative family crests, kites and caricatures, candies and cakes, tofu and ramen‒ all line and fill stalls as far as the street stretches.

There is a constant warmth buzzing under her skin, one of fulfillment and desire for more as they slowly weave through the crowded streets. Lucia only intends to casually glance up at Seokjin, maybe to see if he's particularly interested in getting any ramen or desserts at a nearby booth. Instead, her breath stops in her throat when she meets his eyes, and boy did she do those eyes injustice by describing them similar to that of dark chocolate.

Flecks of dark obsidian blend with bits of caramel against the coffee-brown background of crinkled eyes and Lucia wishes she could deny how they stole her breath. They were freshly watered gardens glowing under the morning sun, the dark canvas that grew unimaginable life and happiness with every granule of their being. Drats, if she didn't look away soon it would be embarrassing.

Clearing her throat, she redirects her attention to the booth selling ramen left and right.

"Want some ramen?" She proposes, ignoring the fire igniting underneath her cheeks. If she doesn't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist.

"Always," his grin holds unnerving mischief behind it, causing Lucia to squint her eyes in suspicion.

LUCIA'S NEXT OBSERVATION is that Seokjin most likely just looks mischievous. Seokjin had yet to do anything deserving of the title of mischievous, only ordering a bowl of ramen for the both of them and digging in. Lucia has yet to touch her bowl of ramen, only poking at the pork and green onions sitting at the top.

"Don't like ramen?" Seokjin's head tilts to the side in confusion as he looks up, meeting Lucia's eyes and totally not stealing her breath again.

"Oh no, I quite like ramen. It's just, I was afraid to ask you to try it first to be honest," she gives a strained laugh, letting a blush flare across her cheeks.

"Why would I try it first?" If it was possible, he looks even more confused at Lucia's vague confession.

"I mean, would you rather have the princess under your direct discretion be poisoned by foreign emissaries because you didn't think to check the food she bought at an unsupervised food stall?" Lucia lets her lips tilt up in amusement at the growing realization on Seokjin's face.

"Of course not! I can't let you ruin my whole career," Seokjin grins, not hesitating to take one of her pieces of pork to his lips, relishing the taste as Lucia finally lifts her chopsticks to eat.

Lucia is most definitely in denial, something she recognizes with a smile as she watches Seokjin smile and laugh at some kid tugging on his mother's shawl while begging for the taste of one slice of raspberry cheesecake. She is most definitely in denial about the absolute delight that dances in her heart whenever the flecks of caramel and obsidian catch the light of the kerosene lamps as they make eye contact. Most definitely in denial about the sparks that shoot across her nerves with every brush of their knuckles while they stroll down the market street, stomach full of ramen and blossoming butterflies. Not that she'll ever admit it.

After all, some things are better left unsaid, left behind in the past to return to nothing. And so, she leaves her feelings for him at the market's entrance. 

I have about maybe one more scene to add in to Lucia's arc and then I'm going to just start throwing more updates out so get ready >:]