Samurai ↔ Nishimura Riki

twenty six

my sister traumatized (STUCK IN MY TRAUMA) me with sweet venom (shes a jay stan). like instead of sweet-ee-ee-eet- ee-ee-ee-eet shes like sweet- HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEET- *insert maniacal laugh*

Instinctively, Hyewon violently turned around to face the culprit and smacked his hands.

"What the hell?" she spat at him, pushing him away from her, making there was distance between them. "What do you think you're doing, huh?" But even as she says these words, she feels her heart do an odd, joyful jig at the sight of him. Annoying, rebellious heart-

The smirk on Riki's face was quickly replaced by a somber grimace. "We need to talk," he replies as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "About my mother and how you're involved in it. And..." he hesitated, "You know, what happened that day." he rushes saying the last phrase.

Embarrassment flamed her cheeks. She turned away from him petulantly and back towards the door. "Fine. You're sorry for me the other day," she says bluntly, "Blah, blah, blah. I accept your apology. Are we done now?"

A sigh escaped his mouth. Slowly, she feels him gently ca her as he spins her back around, lifting her chin to face him. "Not so fast, Cho." Riki takes a deep breath. "Give me a chance. Hear me out." he pleads, desperately.

Hyewon stared at him, momentarily mesmerized by his eyes, before realizing that she hadn't given him an answer. She nods in affirmation and he runs his hand through his hair, a relieved smile on his lips.

The prince takes a deep breath. "I want to give you a proper response to your confession. But first," he gingerly holds her hands, his voice softening several degrees. "I'm sorry for taking advantage of you when Lia entered the ballroom. I shouldn't have done that and I know that now. I'm sorry for doing that without your consent, I should've just ordered her to get out. I'm not going to bother explaining myself because I know that it doesn't excuse what I did, but I want you to know that I'm sorry for all I did in the past..."

A corner of her mouth twitched. How corny. Truthfully, she had gotten over this stage, although she was afraid of how to fix the awkwardness. But nonetheless, Hyewon found it kind of adorable that he was basically rambling in circles now. She folded her arms, holding back a laugh. After a few minutes of him talking to himself, she had enough. She interrupted him, "Okay, Nishimura, that's enough. If you say one more sorry, I will cut out your vocal chords to use as strings in a sanshin. So, shut up if you still want to be able to talk."

Wisely, Riki clamped his mouth shut. "Look," she continued, "What's done has been done. Let's leave the past in the past, shall we?"

 His mouth gaped open. "R-Really? I thought it would take a lot longer for you to forgive me," he commented before whispering under breath but loud enough for Hyewon to hear, "Damn it. I rehearsed my speech all for nothing," he muttered to himself, making her hold back a smile.

Riki cleared his throat. "What were you doing with my mother?" he asked, the conversation turning into a more solemn tone.

The memory of what had just happened this morning washed over her, a guilty reminder weighing on her soul. "She invited me to the royal garden over tea. She wanted to know how I felt about being your guard," she answers softly. "A maid brought over the tea and she drank it, but I didn't." A pause. "Do you believe Lia? That I might've poisoned your mother Empress Mika...?" Hyewon asks, carefully examining the expression on his face. "No bias or anything."

"No," he answers honestly without hesitation. "I can see where Lia is coming from and it is kind of suspicious that the same day you visit my mother is the day she is poisoned and dies. It might be stupid but..." The prince takes another step closer, unaware of her rapidly beating heart. "I don't think you would be the shady type. I trust you, I don't think you're the type of person to do that."

His trust only made the burden weighing on her shoulders heavier. "Still, I'm still the one to blame. I felt something off about the tea and if I just warned her, maybe this whole crisis would be averted. I tried expelling the poison with magic, but it did nothing..." she trails off.

Another sigh. Riki rests his hands on her shoulders. "Look, there's nothing you can do about it now. Don't regret something that can't be changed. Besides, think about it, the tea was poisoned only the day my mother invited you, which means the perpetrator also meant to poison you. And frankly, I'm glad you didn't drink it or else you would've died as well. If my mother couldn't sense the aura of the tea when you could and drink it, then isn't it the will of the gods? Some things can't be helped, Hyewon." he reasons gently.

"She knew my father," she murmurs to herself, head low. "She loved you a lot, too. She told me to protect you... It should've been me."

"I'm sure you're already doing a capable job of protecting me. You saved me from the mercenary, remember?" He gingerly lifts her chin up. "Don't think like that. If you were dead, that would be quite unfortunate because then I wouldn't be able to do this. You wanted an answer, didn't you?"

Her mind blanked out when she was pulled into her second kiss.

At first, everything seemed to fly past so fast that she couldn't comprehend what was happening until moments later.

The warm sensation electrified her senses, yet left her in shock. She was kissing him. For the second time.

Should she be doing this? Probably not, but who was watching? In it all, Hyewon hesitated whether to return the kiss, contemplating whether or not this was a prank. But the longer it went on, the longer she was diving into a surge of ecstasy, she felt more convinced that it indeed was no joke and began passionately kissing back.

Were there fireworks exploding in the background? Were angels singing hymns above them in heaven? It certainly felt like heaven. The only thing she could hear was the loud pounding of her heart, adrenaline pumping through her body.

Pure silence, but the two could only feel a sense of satisfaction and love as they stood there, locked in a deep kiss. Why words to show your love when you can simply show it?

After what seemed like forever, Riki pulled back and gazed at her with a face of pure happiness, smiling sheepishly. "I've been waiting to do that again. I told you I'd give you your answer. I like you. Do you have anything else to say, Cho?"

"Took you long enough, pabo," Despite the rising heat in her cheeks, Hyewon tiptoed and flicked his forehead.

He grins before wrapping her into a tight hug, nudging her cheek. "Well, that makes things official." He bopped her nose affectionately. "You're mine now and you can't look at anyone else. How does it feel to be the Crown Prince's lover?"

"I don't care how many corny words you say or how much I like you, but if you bop my nose one more time, I will make sure you feel my wrath the next time we have a sword fight."

"Doesn't matter you're still mine."

A/N: 26 chapters and finalllyyy we're here even though its a bit o the short side. good job me *pats on own shoulder*

dw theres still... 20 more chapters?? and ofc im gonna add jake soon :)