Everlast | yang jungwon 정원

[0.20]

When I awake the next morning, it's to the sound of loud knocking on the two doors from outside. I squint my eyes as I sit up in bed, adjusting to the morning light as I stretch my arms and legs.

"Prince Jungwon, are you awake?" the voice from outside suddenly shouts.

With scrunched eyebrows I look over to Jungwon's bed beside mine- it seems he's still in a deep sleep. I shuffle out of the warm blankets I had bundled myself with from the night before, hissing as my feet hit the cold floor, and scurry over to the boy's bed to gently tap on his shoulder- but no response. I tap more determinedly to awake the boy when the knocking still persists, it even gets louder than before.

"Prince Jungwon?" the person outside asks.

"Come on Jungwon, wake up already!" I whisper shout to the boy who begins to stir in his sleep. Suddenly, his hand wraps around my wrist that had been poking at him. He tugs my arm towards himself, making me fall atop him with a yelp.

"Alright, I'm going to come in." the person outside suddenly announces, making my eyes go wide.

I begin to thrash my arm around in hopes to free myself, but surprisingly Jungwon has a strong grip even while he's sleeping.

"Jungwon, I swear to god if you don't wake up right now-" I begin to threaten the sleeping boy, but cut myself off when the person from outside swings the doors wide open, revealing himself standing in shock with wide eyes.

"Oh," he exclaims as I feel my face burn red. "I'll be um, waiting outside then." the man awkwardly says while shuffling backwards out the door.

"It's not what it looks like!" I yell after him just before he closes the door. I allow my head to slump forwards and I let out a groan of frustration into the blanket beside my head.

"Yang Jungwon!" I practically shout while staring at the sleeping boy's face inches away from my own. He actually looks very peaceful, ethereal even. The sun shines through the window giving an orange glow to his skin, his usually dark hair appears browner, and it sprawls messily across the pillow he's resting on. I've never noticed till now how handsome he actually is.

"Why are you shouting so early?" Jungwon suddenly questions in a mumble, startling me from my daze.

He opens his eyes and squints at me in confusion, then to his arm- which he realizes is still holding onto my wrist. He quickly lets go of my wrist and sits up in the bed, pushing me backwards and making me sit on the sheets in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, I did not mean to do anything I swear!" he apologizes while scratching his head sheepishly, "I'm a deep sleeper so I have a hard time waking up."

"So, I've figured out," I respond while hauling myself up and off the giant bed. I pat down my nightgown to make sure everything is in the right place, as I notice Jungwon stretching his arms outwards. "By the way, someone is outside waiting for you." I mention and he looks at me with his eyebrows knitted together.

"He didn't say a name, but he's got ash blonde hair, and he's a bit more on the shorter side." I try my best to describe the man with only the few seconds I had seen him.

Jungwon's eyes light up and he immediately stands up from his bed, "Oh that's Jake hyung, my servant. Whatever news he has brought must be important. " He mentions while rushing over towards the doors.

All of a sudden, he stops in his tracks and turns to look at me. "You should get dressed for the day," he points out, to which I nod in response. I turn around and head for the bathroom door as I hear Jungwon open the two large doors, greeting the other man.

The dark blue dress I had worn yesterday remains in the same spot I had last left it- on the rack near the countertop. I easily slip the dress over my body along with a pair of clean socks that Jungwon had kindly lent to me. Putting the corset belt on is easier to figure out this time, so I swiftly tie it around my waist with a little bow at the end of the black ribbon.

I then slip on my brown boots that I had also left in the bathroom the night before, lacing them up my calves before walking over to the mirror. I definitely look better conditioned than the night before, and my hair is freshly washed, so I decide to leave it down as it rests over my shoulders.

When I walk back out into the main room, I find Jungwon and Jake hunched over the desk with plates of steaming hot food in both of their hands. I walk over to the two of them and stand beside Jungwon on the opposite side of the other boy. Jungwon looks up at me with a small smile, Jake just giving me a polite nod.

"Minji, right?" Jake suddenly asks me.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you," I greet and shake his hand briefly with a smile.

"Jake hyung also brought you breakfast as well," Jungwon mentions and hands me a plate of some sort of egg and bacon and maybe even some type of vegetable concoction.

"Oh, thank you so much, I'm literally starving," I exaggerate as I gratefully begin to eat what has been given to me. I hear a chuckle come from beside me, but I pay no attention and just continue to eat.

"Do you think we'll be able to pull this off?" Jake suddenly asks in a hushed tone, and I think he's talking to me at first, but then I look up and realize he's talking to Jungwon instead.

"I have faith we can," Jungwon responds to him, making my eyebrows knit together in a frown.

I carefully look down at the desk to see the piece of paper the two boys eyes seem to be glued to, reading the words titled on the page "The Sorian Kingdom", in my head.

"Why do you have a map of the Sorian kingdom, are you planning to attack them?" I ask and watch as Jungwon adds more marks and circles to certain locations on the map.

Jungwon hums before looking up to me, "No, definitely not," he assures while he purses his lips, "if anything, because of the recent events I'm certain they will be the ones attacking first."

"What's the reason for having a map of their kingdom, then?" I continue to ask, making it go silent.

I squint my eyes at Jake with a frown on my face as he audibly takes a deep breath. "Anything could happen, so it is important to memorize the layout of our enemie's base in case something was to happen." he excuses, and I simply hum while trying to hide my frown.

"How'd you obtain the map anyways?" I ask and Jungwon sighs beside me, like he's about to answer me.

"Anyways," Jake cuts in, making me knit my eyebrows together as he changes the topic, "I'm supposed to accompany you to pick up your new attire from seamstress Jay's."

"Will Jungwon be coming with us?" I ask and Jungwon looks at me apologetically.

"Unfortunately, no I won't be able to, I am needed for something elsewhere." he explains, "I'll meet up with you later though, okay?"

"Alright." I nod blankly in return.

"Shall we get going then, Minji?" Jake asks me and takes my now empty plate. I took a look at the map one last time, noticing a large red circle circling the area labeled "dungeons."

"Ready when you are," I respond with a forced smile.

Jake opens one of the large doors for me and I step outside, giving Jungwon a soft smile when he shouts, "have a good time!"

My previous smile falters the second Jake shuts the door behind us. Jake begins to lead the way as I enter my thoughts. It's obvious the two boys were hiding something from me, and I really don't know if it's my place to feel upset about it.