*climbs out of a hole coughing up dust*

"What YEAR is it?"

A/N: Okay but jokes aside - YoSoo fam, it's been far too looooong! T-T

I am terribly sorry for the super long wait.

It was honestly impossible to even type anything these past couple of months! What with work stress, friends moving away and bouts of depression, life has been incredibly hectic since New Year's. To top that off, editing took forever because (a) I can be annoyingly indecisive and picky and (b) I absolutely didn't want to simply crank out a chapter that wasn't up to par *grrr*

So THANK YOU for being so very patient and for all the love this story has received even while I was off the radar! I can't tell you how heartening it was to see all the enthusiasm for ITJOTD - all your wonderful reviews, awesome Tumblr tributes and kind messages meant so much to me! *cries happy tears*

I hope you enjoy this next part...

Spoiler alert – you'll find no fluff here.

Happy Valentine's Day, lovelies!

Her heart plummeted to her stomach.

The sight that greeted her as she rounded the corner made her skid to a halt, instantly pulling her away from her disjointed thoughts.

Ashen-faced and wide-eyed, she watched him as he stood facing the lily pond, their pond, with his hands clasped behind his back.

She hadn't known that he would be there. She hadn't expected to find anyone there at all, really, for she would have taken a different route altogether. But on that day, she had felt almost compelled to seek out the serenity offered by the landscaped sanctuary. She owed it to force of habit and reckless stupidity.

Cursing inwardly, she spun on her heel and moved to leave, but her poor attempt at evasion was quickly halted by the low timbre of his voice-

"Soo-yah."

Heartbreakingly familiar and unmistakably him.

Unease blossomed from within her, as brilliantly as the fragrant mugunghwa that adorned the branches arching over them. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It felt like an eternity since the last time he had acknowledged her existence, let alone address her by name.

She turned to face him, eyes trained on the ground. Her limbs moved as if someone inexperienced were controlling them remotely. Her mouth was almost too dry to speak.

"Your Highness," Hae Soo bowed.

A heavy silence settled over them, thicker than the uneasy tension in the atmosphere.

She had rehearsed it in her head countless times before, all that she would say to him if they ever met again…

Why did you leave me?

Did you miss me as much as I missed you?

Did you think of me often?

Have you been eating well? Sleeping well?

Do you resent me?

Do you still blame me for what happened?

Do you still love me?

The words now remained stitched somewhere on the back of her throat. Seconds ticked by and her gaze lingered on the dew-moist grass blanketing the distance between them. It was safer to say nothing.

"I've been hearing things…about you and the king," Wang So said slowly. "Slanderous lies."

It took all her strength to resist the urge to bolt then and there.

"I didn't believe any of it, of course. I know that none of it is true. We've always had enemies, you and I…so I wasn't surprised to learn that they would spread such lies about you to hurt me."

Why was it so hard to breathe?

"People have always tried to tear us apart," he muttered ruefully. "In that respect, it seems nothing here has changed."

He paused for a moment, shifting on his feet.

"But you know me, Soo-yah…my heart would only be at ease if I heard it from your lips."

And there it was.

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to focus on the gentle strain of his voice.

"I leave for Seokyeong tonight. And before I depart, I would like to know you've been safe here…that I do not have to worry while I am away."

His voice was soft yet probing.

"Are they wrong?"

Heart racing, Hae Soo stood very still, the breeze softly sweeping loose tendrils away from cheekbones that had become more prominent over the years.

Deep breath.

In…and out…

The repercussions of her clandestine tryst came hurtling towards her at full speed like a rogue comet of atonement.

It's okay...breathe.

In…and out…

"Are they wrong?" Wang So pressed, his voice deep and gentle.

Oh God, oh God…

There was no avoiding it now, was there?

She swallowed hard.

Her features buckled just slightly before she spoke. "No."

"What?"

She couldn't meet his eyes.

"No, they're not wrong," she whispered, her voice barely a thread.

When she finally chanced a look at him, his face was paler than she ever recalled it being, his lips almost ghostly despite the warm sun.

"Then…" Wang So cleared his throat. "Does the king…favor you?" He wavered over the term, as if there was a great danger of it manifesting before his eyes should he utter it aloud.

Favor.

Could it really be called that? The king's favor?

Surely that was putting it quite mildly.

His dark, expressionless eyes were levelled at her intently. Hae Soo wanted to look away, but couldn't break free of a guilty compulsion to return his gaze.

Her chest tightened.

How did it come to this?

She felt her eyes brim with tears. "What do you want me to say?"

Wang So staggered back two steps and stared at her, his eyes unfocused. "Just lie to me instead," he whispered.

His face screwed up with uncomprehending horror as he searched her eyes, demanding a different answer.

"Tell me it's a misunderstanding," he said desperately. "Tell me that none of it is true, that they're all just lies! Please. Then we can go back to how it was before."

A dull ache hummed in her chest.

"We promised not to lie to each other," Hae Soo replied weakly. She could've bitten her tongue off the moment those words escaped her lips.

He looked like she had just cut his heart out. She might as well have.

"How could you do this?" Wang So shook his head. "How could you hurt me this way? How could you even think of–"

His expression, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, hurt, lasted for only a moment until he turned away from her. "Don't you know what he's done?" he whispered furiously. "Don't you know what he is?"

Hae Soo broke a little more inside - the pieces becoming shards.

"Of course I do," she replied, her voice cracking. "He's put me through so much…"

He turned back to her, face set like an adversary, eyes cold, muscles tense.

"Then why?" he demanded, his voice rising as he stepped towards her again. "WHY HIM? Of all people, why did you have to throw yourself at him?"

She shuffled backwards almost sobbing.

"It wasn't like that. You don't understand."

His eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Tell me!" he shouted. "HOW COULD I POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND?"

Her face flamed with years of suppressed anger. "You left me! You left me all alone, just like he told me you would! How could you do that?"

"I LEFT TO PROTECT YOU!"

"But how was I to know?" She choked on a sob. "You were gone for so long and I…I never heard from you again after that night! You told me it was over but I still waited!"

Her shoulders heaved as the tears came thicker and faster.

"I waited for you. Every day. But you did not come. You never sent word to me for three years! I only knew you were still alive because construction of the Seokyeong fortress continued and they told me it was under your watch!"

"So then you decided to seek comfort in the arms of that monster?"

"That's not what happened."

Wang So looked at her incredulously before bringing his hands up to his face.

She reached for him. "Your Highness, I–"

"Do not touch me!" he hissed, backing away from her. "When I look at you now, all I see is his hands all over you!"

Traitorous tears rolled down her cheeks. "Your Highness, please," she whimpered.

His gaze faltered to the ground. "You betrayed me in the worst possible way. Did you also finally realize I wasn't worthy of your affections? Did you detest me so much?"

Gasping on a sob, she brought her hands up to cover her mouth.

"I was so blind," he muttered. "The two of you must've had quite a laugh at my foolishness."

She shook her head emphatically. "No! It wasn't like that at all!"

He glared at her, his face still wet with tears but his eyes were hard. "How can I trust a word you say?"

Her chest heaved with sobs. "Please…just listen to me- "

"Why should I listen now to anything you have to say?" he shouted.

"Because you have to know why," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "Please, you have to know…you have to understand what happened."

Wang So glared at her for a few moments, fists tightly clenched at his sides. Whether he was waiting to listen or forcing himself not to shout at her, she did not know. But she took that as her cue.

Summoning her strength, Hae Soo drew in a deep breath.

"I couldn't bear it when you left. I felt…afraid all the time."

She clutched her hands together, willing them to stop shaking.

"He tormented me constantly, he took pleasure in my misery. Often he would taunt me about you…he told me that you didn't want me anymore, that you would soon forget me because I was nothing but a servant. You told me your feelings had changed and I never heard from you again, so how could I not believe it?"

The prince broke eye-contact, preferring instead to rest his eyes somewhere in the distance behind her.

"I thought…perhaps he was right after all…perhaps you must've forgotten. Either that, or you must've hated me so much for not trusting you." Hae Soo sounded small even to her own ears.

She paused for a moment, forcing herself to continue.

"He never liked it when I talked back, so he would often lose his temper and lash out at me. You know how he is. During the first years, especially, he never hesitated to remind me over and over that I was worthless and a nobody…that I was lower than the dirt beneath his feet."

Wang So's jaw hardened in mounting anger.

"I was with him every day, you see…and he repeated it again and again and treated me with nothing but contempt until eventually, I started to believe it too…but then…after a while, everything changed. I don't know how or why, but something did change…slowly…then there were moments when he wasn't so cruel anymore."

She closed her eyes for a second.

"You weren't there and…he was just…with me, all the time! And then when he started to take an interest in me, I…" She trailed off.

She took a long time with her next words. It was hard to say them.

"I started to feel human again…like perhaps I was worth something after all. Because I realized that if he wanted me…even after you had discarded me…then that must mean I'm not completely worthless."

Wang So looked ready to explode with rage. "I never thought you were worthless, Soo-yah. You meant everything to me."

She bit her bottom lip to hold back the fresh torrent of sobs.

"I wanted to take you away from all of this. When I couldn't do that, I kept my distance to guarantee your safety. I stayed away so that he would leave you alone!"

He breathed a small mirthless laugh, looking at her with eyes that were wet and dark with pain. "All these years, the one thing that kept me going was the thought of you…and now I come to find you've been warming the king's bed every night."

"I clung to the thought of you too, Your Highness" she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "I longed for you every day, God knows I waited for you!"

He gave her a long hard look but didn't say anything.

"Do you even know how I felt after that night? Being abandoned like that? The next day you were gone! You took my heart, shattered it and then left me! You might've had your reasons but you threw me away when I needed you the most and I had to endure everything on my own! I felt…"

She paused, taking a few deep breaths.

"I felt as though I were drowning and I needed to breathe again." She stared at her hands. "He and I, we were just…together. All the time. And gradually everything spiraled out of control. But I swear to you I never meant for any of this to happen."

She looked up at him, her head swimming with half-formed regrets. "All I ever wanted was to be with you. I'm sorry."

Wang So eyed her wistfully. "Then do you not care about me anymore?"

"Of course I still care about you, I do!"

"More than him?"

"Why does it even matter anymore, Your Highness?"

"It matters to me!" His voice was raw, strangled by emotion. "You were the one good thing in my life. He knew I loved you and then he took you away from me!"

Hae Soo bit her lip, tears springing in her eyes.

"He needs me."

Wang So drew his brows together. "No, he doesn't!" His voice came out tight. "Can't you see what he's done? He's toyed with your mind! You don't need him, Soo-yah! Leave with me tonight. Come away with me…I can take care of you."

"I c-can't."

He took her hand in both of his. "We'll go far away, somewhere he can never bother you again. I can protect you!"

"No, it's too late," she whispered tearfully.

His handsome face twisted in agony. "I love you and I would do anything to undo the choices I've made now that I know their outcome, but I can't."

Hae Soo shook her head, pulling her fingers out of his grasp.

"It's too late," she repeated.

"Did everything we ever had mean nothing to you?"

Her heart lurched at the pain and sadness in his face. "Of course it did."

"Then why?" Wang So demanded. "Why stay with him?"

His frown deepened at her lack of response.

"Do you love him?" he asked bitterly.

A long silence stretched out between the two of them. Hae Soo's gaze skittered as she looked everywhere but at him.

Wang So grimaced. "Whatever you think it is, that's not love, Soo-yah. That's the damage that monster has inflicted on you…and all this time you've been confusing it for real love."

Hae Soo's eyes were empty when she looked up at him. "Is that what you really think of me?" she asked quietly. "That I'm damaged?"

She could tell that he regretted what he'd just said, but in the end, no matter how painful, they both knew that his words probably were the truth.

"Stop," Wang So said wearily. "It would have been better not to see you at all."

She never expected his words to hurt her so much, it felt like a thousand knives had just pierced through her heart. She felt the hot tears already welling up in her eyes.

Before she could say anything back, the prince suddenly stepped forward and threw his arms around her tightly. She felt the wind knocked out of her lungs as they spun through the air and tumbled to the ground in a heap. She landed sorely on her hip, though his embrace had cushioned most of the impact.

Still in shock, Hae Soo lay where he had tackled her down, eyes big as she stared into his face. She caught a sliver of longing in his dark eyes before he schooled his features and they turned cold again.

It was over in a second…Wang So pulled away first and sat up.

Hae Soo followed suit and caught him wincing as he clutched at his right arm. Her eyes widened when she noticed his slashed sleeve.

He was bleeding.

"Are you alright?" she gasped, placing a hand on his forearm.

Wang So shrugged her off.

But how did-

Approaching footsteps clip-clopped down the stone pathway and the pair hastily staggered to their feet.

Hae Soo's chest filled with dread when she noticed the king himself heading their way, flanked by his entourage of attendants and Prince Won.

Clad in robes of ivory and gold, Wang Yo swaggered towards them, bow in hand and a sly glint in his eye. "I felt like my arm was getting weak so I was testing myself. Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice dripping with feigned concern.

"It only grazed me," Wang So replied levelly.

Guilt stabbed at Hae Soo's chest as she eyed his wound. He had pulled her out of harm's way knowing full well he could expect the arrow to find him instead. The thought made her ill.

Prince Won gestured knowingly between the two of them. "Oh, you two are still on very good terms!"

Even with her eyes fixed on the ground, she could feel Wang Yo's stare piercing into her.

Wang So calmly addressed the king. "It would not look good if rumors started that you killed a court lady for fun."

Wang Yo nodded. "Yes, that would not be good," he quipped thoughtfully. "But I never miss. Hae Soo knows that."

She glanced up and the king's head snapped in her direction.

An invisible veil cloaked Wang Yo's expression, concealing the black rage she had glimpsed for only an instant before he shot her a devilish grin. Without waiting for a response, he strode off, looking very pleased with himself.

Resentment stirred deep in her chest as she watched him walk away.

A terse exchange followed between the two princes who lingered by, but the royal court lady was too distracted to catch the gist of what they were saying.

Anger and hate coursed through her veins.

Pure.

Strong.

Wow. You know what? I just realized writing this chapter made me really hungry...

HUNGRY FOR REVIEWS (lol psyche)

STARVING.

FEED ME.

Lemme know what you think :)

Also, Part XII should be ready in about a month - so please bear with me!

Until then, take care x