The Last Guardian (Stray Kids Lee Minho//LeeKnow)

XXIV

Background 5

The dream of being captured haunted her dreams for weeks. She remembered being dragged away from her mother and grandfather by a large man dressed fully in red armour. He carried her as though she was nothing and despite her scream, slapping and bitting, his grip on her never weakened. At least, not until he placed her down in the box. The box. She hadn't realised before but there were probably hundreds of them, each filled with a minimum of five children, squashed against each other with only a small hole on the side for breathing. You couldn't move, couldn't talk, even breathing was a hard task because you had to stay mindful of everyone else in your box. The last thing you wanted was for the person you lay on top of to suffocate and leave you lying on a corpse for the next week of travelling.

They were only brought out of the box at dusk for a drink of water and a nibble of bread before being stuffed in again for another day. If a corpse was found, it would either be thrown on the side of the road or kept in the box because the soldiers were too lazy to get rid of it. Fortunately enough, no one passed on in her box but the one beside her reeked of decay for the last three days of their travel.

Upon arrival, they were forced into chains then locked up in the Palace's prison, ten people per cell. During the day, they were forced into manual labour and at night, they were thrown into the cell with minimal water and barely any food. This was also the reason the main servant's son became a well-known and appreciated character to the children of Masan as he would bring in leftovers unbeknownst to the Royal Family to a certain cell each night.

Her second week there and it was finally Erin's cell's turn for leftovers. Everyone devoured the contents of the box and she soon found herself without even a crumb. You see, Erin was the youngest in her cell and you'd think that would make the others try to look after her but it was the last of their worries. If anything, they detested her and it didn't help her case much when they found out her brother was a Guardian. To them, the reason they were captured was because the Guardians refused to come to their aid but Erin didn't quite find that fair.

The sour treatment she received did not go unnoticed by the main servant's son and she found herself pleasantly surprised later on that night when she was awoken to him stuffing a stale bread loaf in her face.

He had big, brown eyes and a wide, caring smile paired with dishevelled hazel hair.

As she dug into the bread, she couldn't help but notice as he sat down beside her cell and watched her eat.

"Need anything?" she asked, mouth still full but he simply laughed it off.

"No, I just want to make sure you are alright. I heard how you guys got here. Must have sucked."

"It does," she swallowed her bread. "I watched it all. I watched them approach and then I watched them kill all the adults in the town."

"How are you taking this all so well?"

"Am I? I guess I've been crying so much I can't anymore... But it still hurts."

"I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost my mother. She's the only reason I haven't run away from this place yet."

"What about your father? Do you have a father?"

"I do. He's part of the Royal Army. But I don't like him. He treats me as though I'm not his son and resents my move for conceiving me but what can I say? The Royal Army is full of demons and they are all run by the Devil himself."

"I'm not sure the King would appreciate that nickname very much."

"I mean, it's true, isn't it? And don't get me started with the royal brats: Prince Minho and Princess Ryujin. Ever since their mother's passing two years ago they've nothing but rude. And their father promotes it!" He sighed. "So both your parents were killed?"

"My mother was and my grandfather but not my father or brother. You see, my brother is a Guardian and my father is an army officer and they were heading to Busan to attend the annual Guardian Christmas-New Year feast when Masan was attacked. So they are alive... At least I hope."

"I hope the Guardians involve themselves. I could do with a bit of drama in my life if you know what I mean," he joked.

"Trust me, I think I've been involved with enough drama for the rest of my life."

He smiled at her, "by the way, what's your name?"

"Erin. I was named after one of the first-ever Guardians."

"That's cool! Well, Erin, you have beautiful eyes. You don't really get to see many exotic eyes around here."

"Exotic eyes?" she laughed.

"You only get brown eyes around here. I bet you have the whole rainbow down in the South-East. I've never seen anyone with eyes the colour of the late Queen's crown."

"The colour is emerald," she explained. "And I get them from my father. My brother also has emerald eyes."

"Well, it is a beautiful colour."

"Thank you. You have quite a dashing pair of chocolate eyes too."

He scoffed, "there is nothing 'dashing' about this colour. It is boring and monotonous. Most people have brown eyes."

"But not everyone rocks them like you."

"If you are trying to get more bread out of me, you could just ask," he laughed.

She slapped his shoulder lightly, "Hey, I'm just trying to befriend you here. I'm not good at it but at least I'm trying... But if you are offering more bread, sign me up."

He chuckled, standing up, "another piece of bread coming up."

He was already halfway out of the prison when she called out to him, "Wait! I never got your name."

"Seungmin," he responded and then he was out of the prison and off to get more bread.