Kiss of Life (Sleeping Beauty) [Daragon]

Part 2: The Ache of A First Love

There are two things Kwon Jiyong never wanted to occur to him. First was having the song he composed for a long time rejected by YG sangjanim and second, punching himself square in the face but only to find out it wasn't a dream.

As he was nursing his nose, which was bleeding from his hard punch, the princess he had woken up from her eternal slumber repeated, "Who art thou?"

"Don't talk to me in Old English." Jiyong said, irritated and rolling his eyes. "I know you know Korean."

The princess crossed her arms and raised a brow at him, as if mocking his intelligence—or more, his education. He knew that reaction too well from his own. "How'd you know?" She said, accusing.

Jiyong nodded at her clothes, pointing out the obvious. "You're wearing a hanbok."

She pouted and didn't get embarrassed, unlike other girls who get embarrassed when you point out their stupidity. She quickly introduced herself, "I'm Park Sandara, Princess of Tamna."

"Kwon Jiyong." He said, finally giving up on his nose and grabbed the basket he was holding a while ago. The bleeding had stopped already, and all there was left was trail of blood coming out of his nostril.

She gushed, perplexed. "Chief?!"

"No." Jiyong directly disagreed, his eyebrow scrunching in between.

"Then who are you?" She narrowed her eyes at him before looking around. "Where am I?"

He stood up from the floor, shrugging all the dust from his clothes and said, "The question would be when am I. You've slept through many dynasties and eras. It's now the 21st century."

The princess looked at him, her eyebrows arched downward and she looked worried. "All I remember was I prick my finger at a spindle and then when I first open my eyes, I see you."

"If you're sleeping for many centuries," Jiyong wondered, not answering her question. "Why doesn't your breath smells like rotten dead rat?"

"Have you smelled my breath?" Sandara asked, almost laughing.

Jiyong reminded her, "I kissed you."

"Well," He said again and heaved a sigh. "I shouldn't have woken you up so you'd be Forever 21."

He laughed loudly but the princess only looked at him, contemplating whether she was woken up by a madman and not a prince. Jiyong stopped when he felt her not laughing and said, "Oh yeah, you were asleep all this time."

"What happened while I was asleep?" She asked, finally getting out of the bed. As soon as she stood up, it collapsed on the floor and the vile green smoke disappeared. The magic had finally worn out after many years.

"I wasn't alive that long." Jiyong reminded her again. "Follow me. I'll introduce you to my grandparents."

They won't love her but they can handle someone as old as them. They started out the door and down the stairs, their footsteps echoing all around the empty tower.

"There are so many of them." Sandara said, pointing out at the trapped princes. "Father must've set out those traps."

"Only one had successfully reached you but he didn't kiss you." Jiyong said, remembering his dream.

Sandara narrowed her eyes at him. "You said you didn't live that long."

"I dreamed about it on the way here." He explained as he reached the end of the stairs and she followed him closely from behind. They stepped out of the tower and as long as the princess had stepped out fully, it collapsed again on the ground. Her presence must've been the only one keeping it in one piece all these years.