Looking For Love(ATEEZ)

4.6

// mild gore

My eyes stop at the small, rooted cornered room. It felt as dejected as it's owner.

I knock.

Wooyoung opens, looking very sleepy and irritated. Half his hair are pushed back and half fall on his eyes, barring the view. I want to push them aside, get a full view.

But I can't.

"Help me, Wooyoung, I cannot sleep."

I take him to my room and make him sit on the chair beside my bed. He soundlessly follows me, as if he was a ghost in the room. When I gesture at the chair to make him sit, he makes a baffled face.

"Your Highness- what--"

"Stop, I don't want to hear it. Just be here."

My back touches the mattress as I look at the ceiling. I can't sleep. Why don't I ask him something? My head will be distracted that way.

"Wooyoung?" I turn to face him, my head resting on my palm.

"Yes, your highness?"

"How old are you?"

His gaze is confused, as if why I would be asking that question.

"Twenty five, your highness."

I hummed. That means five years older than me.

"So, why did you come work at the palace?"

"Your highness, I don't see why that matters-"

I cut him off once again.

"Just answer. I'm not in a good state today."

He nods. "My mother was a paltry palace maid. That was how I was destined to be too. Thankfully, general Yang found me and appointed me as your personal guard after training me."

I shake my head. "No, I mean why in the palace? You would be safer somewhere outside- like in a food restaurant, a hotel, an inn."

He laughs at my stupid question. This is the first time I see him fully laughing. It is a soft tinkle, high pitched and dolphin like sound. It feels like I am hearing music. It relieves my worries and takes my mind off the gore. I almost immediately laugh with him. His eyes crinkle up forming half moons.

He stops gradually, looking at me awkwardly. "I'm sorr-"

"No need. You cheered me up already."

I fall back on the bed and face him. I blink sleepily. "Tell me more."

He begins, "I was born in a good place. My mother and father loved me. They took care of me. Then, when I turned twenty two, they left me to stand on my own two feet. They-"

Third person pov

He stopped abruptly. His sharp ears caught the sound of her soft snores. She was asleep. He slowly got up to leave.

Then he turned back, as if remembering something. He stealthily walked back to her. He hovered above her.

In his sleepy state, he muttered to her sleeping form, "Thank you princess, for considering me a friend and for defending me in front of Miss Park."

Even after he finished speaking, she did not seem to stir awake. He felt an unexplainable feeling crawling deeply into his chest, engraving it there and never leaving.

He did not stagger or leave.

The reason, well, even he did not know.

Shaking his head, he got up and out of the room.