Arcus // ATEEZ ✔

15: the meeting that needs no discussion

The first thing she hears as she wakes up is a loud gasp and the first thing she feels is the rock-solid chest of Hongjoong she's sleeping on. Her eyelids fly open and her first sight is the king's sleeping face, and as she looks around to find the source of the gasp she notices that the blinds in her room have been pulled apart, letting the sunlight pouring in, which could only mean one thing.

Someone else is in the room with them.

Her guess proves to be correct because she sees a shocked Serim at the end of the bed, too startled by what she's seeing that she's not able to move at all. Narae untangles herself from Hongjoong's embrace before pushing herself up against the headboard, knees against her chest. The two women look at each other silently, the lady-in-waiting's eyes getting wider by the second.

"Your- Your Highness, please forgive me. I did not mean to barge in where I was not invited; I wanted to carry out my daily duties. When I knocked you did not answer, so I assumed that you still had not waken up."

Narae winces; of course, how can she forget about her own lady-in-waiting? Serim is allowed to carry out her duties by waking up the princess early in the morning, even if it means going into the room without being invited. The princess was never against it, since it's not like she would have anything to hide in here. Well, not until today. She glances at Hongjoong, who is mumbling in his sleep, one of his hands still holding on to her left hand.

"It's fine," she says, trying to stop her voice from trembling. She is still shaken up by the dream she had yesterday, the effect intensified by the shock of suddenly seeing Serim in front of her. "You may leave, and please tell my brother that I'll be joining them- well, whoever would show up today. Allow me some time to get dressed up."

"Would you need any help, Your Highness? And for the... king." Her chin slightly darts to the direction of the sleeping king.

"Ah... now that you've asked, is it possible for you to find some fresh clothes for him? I would graciously ask for you to keep it a secret, but I know that would be hard. As long as Seonghwa doesn't find out before we go down, then it should be fine. You may leave the clothes on the couch right there."

"Very well, Your Highness. I will return with some clothes for His Majesty."

"Thank you, Serim," she smiles.

Serim bows before her eyes tear away from the bed, skittering towards the direction of the bedroom door. She almost jumps out of the room without even looking back once.

As soon as she leaves, Narae's body relaxes and she exhales, feeling the tightness of her chest unravelling. Slowly slipping her hand out of Hongjoong's grasp so as not to wake him up, she slides off the bed and wears her slippers. She looks around her wardrobe for something to wear, now that they're about to go on to track down the Arcus. She barely knows what the journey will bring forth to them; would it only be a short one? Getting there wouldn't be the problem, but when they come there it would be the problem.

Once inside the bathroom she undresses, takes a shower as she can't stop thinking about the dream she had yesterday night. She doesn't know whether it counts as a nightmare; she's not scared of it, but rather she finds it... unsettling? Was that the memory that was supposedly evoked by the smell of Hongjoong's perfume?

She gets dressed half-heartedly, what Hongjoong said yesterday about what would happen once she gets the Arcus disturbing her. Now she doesn't even feel eager to go, and maybe that it's even better if she doesn't get back her memories. Maybe, just maybe, she doesn't want to know what happened to her that night.

She realizes that she's scared of finding out the truth; that she'll have to break the trust in the people she thought she could've trusted. What if... it's one of them? Those that she did not suspect at all; her brother, her cousin, the rest of the princes? Then her hand stops on the doorknob, another name coming to her.