Everlast | yang jungwon 정원

[0.33]

I slowly open my eyes as a yawn leaves my mouth, making my eyes water before I squint them back closed with a groan. Instinctively I blindly reach around for my blanket, before finally catching the fabric between my fingers and pulling the heavy material up to my chin.

It takes me a moment to register that I did not have a blanket before I fell asleep, nor did I have an empty space in the absence of a certain prince like I do now.

With a frown, I force myself to sit up before I slowly open my eyes, blinking away the grogginess. When all the blurriness has left and I can properly see again, I realize that Jungwon is nowhere to be seen.

"Have you awoken yet?" I hear Jungwon ask, but I'm not sure from where.

Shaking the duvet covers off of myself, I rise to my knees and begin to crawl forwards towards where I heard his voice. When I reach the end of the bed I look down to see Jungwon sitting on the floor in front of me, with a concentrated look on his face. I knit my eyebrows together in a frown as I watch him shuffle through a bunch of worn down looking parchment papers, some rolled up and tied with ribbon or twine, while others are sprawled out messily across the floor around him.

"What is all that?" I ask with a frown, causing Jungwon to flick his head up towards me as he raises both of his eyebrows.

"So you are awake," he remarks, making me hum as I collapse down onto the mattress on my stomach, before folding my hands under my chin.

"How long did I sleep for?" I question as I look towards the balcony window, where I can see that the sky is surprisingly decreasing in color.

"uhh.." Jungwon trails off, looking deep in thought as he scratches his temple. "I'd estimate about three hours or so?"

"Three hours?!" I repeat with wide, shocked eyes. "Jungwon, why would you let me sleep for that long? Now I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight!" I complain with a groan, before letting my face fall onto the mattress underneath me.

I hear him chuckle below me, before he taps a few times on the top of my head. Confused, I raise my head to be met with his face level with my own, since he's crouched down onto his knees. I watch with furrowed eyebrows as he gives me a soft smile before extending a rolled up parchment paper tied together with a bit of twine.

I hesitantly take the roll from his grasp, before sitting up to get a better look at the paper. "What is this?" I ask with a frown as I inspect the roll in my hands, causing Jungwon to move back into his place on the floor below me.

"It is something you should read," he simply replies, causing me to knit my eyebrows together even deeper.

Carefully, I untie the little twine bow that holds the rolled up parchment together, causing it to unravel before my eyes. When my eyes land on the first words at the top of the page, I take in a sharp breath before hesitantly glancing down to Jungwon, who gives me an encouraging smile and nod. I inhale deeply before I begin to read the next words.

December 9, 2021,

To prince Jungwon from Lee Heeseung,

I am so beyond excited to know that you've found a way of contacting me, I had begun to lose hope of ever getting out of this dungeon, honestly. I'll keep this letter short in case I somehow get caught writing this, but it's been a few days since i've arrived and not much has happened yet. They are keeping me locked in the dungeons without telling me anything. I'll keep you updated if I find out more.

Also tell Riki i said happy birthday, it's a shame we couldn't be together this year.

After I finish reading the letter from my brother, I carefully run my fingers over the handwritten words with a frown on my face. I re-roll the parchment up carefully, then gather the twine string and wrap it around the roll to ensure that It doesn't unravel by itself.