Destiny - Chapter 4 - Regrets
Andraia's Note : Hellooo ! Well I'd like to say something important. I know my "writing style" is not that good but I have a good reason : I'm French. And it's not that easy writing in a foreign language. But I still enjoy it. And, I prefer writing in English, because if I wrote in French, only a few fans could read it. So, I'll stop talking and hope you'll enjoy this chapter anyway. (and I don't care if you find my story too long. heh.)
***
"Where did you learn the art of the blade, Hwang ?" Mina asked while eating, sitting on the grass. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day and she was quite in a good mood.
"-Mostly by your father. I learnt the rest while in the army." Hwang said, his eyes fixed on what he was eating.
"-Oh, really. Then I guess you worked hard, because I found you really mastered the sword good."
"-Mmh.You may have worked hard too, I mean, to master your weapon that perfectly."
Mina looked at him amazed. Incredible, Hwang was saying her a compliment ! "Thanks," she murmured. "But I've been given this weapon when I was born, and I always knew how to fight with it."
She looked at him and noticed the cuts on his arms, chest and legs. "Why didn't you clean that cuts ?" she asked.
Hwang looked at her. "I haven't got the patience to do it."
"-Well if you don't bother I can do it, it will take only a minute."
"-No, I-"
"-Don't say no, you did it to me on the boat, now it's my turn."
Hwang shrugged. "If you want it that way."
Mina took her headband, and went to the lake to make it wet. She went back to Hwang and began to brush her wet headband against the warrior's matt skin. She saw him grinding his teeth from time to time.
He was quite embarrassed when she was cleaning his chest's cuts, but at the same time it was pleasing, although he didn't really know why.
"There you are." She said, straight in front of him, with a big smile. He lifted his head. "Hey, there's one left up there." She took his chin on a hand and cleaned a cut on his cheek. "-It's okaay, Mina..." he said, thinking she was doing too much. "I'm not a kid."
"-Sure," she murmured, but he heard.
"-Why did you say that, uh ?"
"-For nothing."
"-Say it ! Are you afraid of me or what ?" He knew what were the good words to say to make her react.
"-What are you thinking about ? I just said it was sure you weren't a kid. So what ?"
"-So, I think you're hiding something to me. I don't think you said that for nothing."
"-And WHY NOT ? What's the problem with you Hwang ?"
"-Hey !" he didn't want her to talk to him like that. "Don't forget *I* was the one who saved you, *I* am the one who agreed to let you stay here, and whatever you say, *I* am the one who's giving orders. Okay ?"
For once, he had lost his calm. He tried his best not to show his emotions to Mina but sometimes, his warrior spirit had to surface.
***
"I am the one who saved you... I am the one who agreed to let you stay here... I am the one who's giving orders..."
Hwang's words, his own words, were still resounding in Mina's head as she was sitting at the edge on the lake, resting her chin on her knee. It had been at least four hours since she didn't see Hwang. After the argument she had with him, each of them had leaved.
Drawing circles in the in the soil, Mina wondered why they had argued about such a little thing. But she couldn't stand he thought he was the one who was giving orders. Soon after their quarrel she was so upset that she almost hurt herself with the Zamba-toh. No, she couldn't stand it. She was a rebel, independant, and the latest thing she wanted to hear was that he was the one giving orders.
But why did she feel so ill at ease ? Why couldn't she accept his superiority, although he saved her two times on the boat ? Why did he leave so suddenly ? And why so many questions in her head ?
"Ooh, he's so ill-natured" Mina thought, removing her shoes and plunging her feet in the cool water. "He's always been like that. It's not my fault..."
***6 years before.***
"Father, who's this boy I've seen in your dojo ?"
"-He's Hwang Sung Kyung, he's my new student."
"-Oh, really ? He will be a real warrior ?"
"-Probably."
"-Father, I wanna be a warrior too !"
Seung Han Myong looked at his daughter as if she had said something absolutely unforgivable. Soon, a woman came, gesturing her to go back to her room. "I wanna be a warrior...too..." the young girl thought. From this moment on, it will be her sole purpose.
Back in her room, the young Seung Mina started to cry, laying on her bed. "Now Mother's gone... in the other world... nobody cares for me anymore..." she said desperated. "Father likes his new student more than me..."
******
Mina remembered these moments of sadness, and all that time, she didn't have anyone to rely on. Her father payed much attention to Hwang that he ever did for her. And now he was trying to find someone to marry her, in order to definitely get rid of his cumbersome daughter ? It was just so unkind... and it was the main reason why she leaved.
The sun was now fading. From the tree where their belongings were, she saw some smoke, and it smelled like some meat was grilling. "Hwang must have prepared the dinner..." she thought. "I'm hungry... how will he react if I eat what he prepared after what he said ?" she wondered. But there was only one way to find out. She stood up, put her shoes on and leaved the lake.
On her way back, she wondered if she would forgive him or not.
When she arrived near the fire, she forgot all the reproaches she was thinking about, seeing him so calm, silently eating his meat. When he saw her he didn't react and made as if he didn't notice her presence. Mina sat next to him. "He seems to be upset, maybe I was the one who made a mistake..." she slowly lost her self-confidence and became to feel herself guilty.
But she noticed the look on Hwang's face, a look she had never seen on him before. It wasn't a look of anger, he rather looked as if he had made a mistake. He suddenly lifted his head, startling her.
"-Mina."
"-What's happening to you Hwang ? You seem so... "
"-I'm sorry, " he said with his usual deep voice and solemn tone.
Seung Mina, totally astonished, looked at him. Never, never she had seen him this way. "You... You don't have to apologize," she answered. "Indeed I didn't have to talk to you this way. You were right." She smiled at him, forgetting anything he had said that could have hurt her. "And besides you're a warrior aren't you ?" Indeed he had always been... rough, and he would probably never change.
Staring at him, she understood. Hwang may have thought about all this during the afternoon, and when he realised he wasn't right, he had wanted to tell her in spite of his pride. Seung Mina was impressed by his honesty. She would never think he was weak. "Honesty's not a weakness," Mina said him.
"Right !" Hwang said as if nothing happened, standing up and streching. "I'm going to sleep. Don't forget to put the fire out when you're done," he said, finally relieved of his burden : telling Mina he was sorry.
Mina nodded in silence.
Alone, she could think about all that happened. Finishing her meat, she was thinking : "It was really hard for him to admit he was wrong. I didn't myself, but I should have realised it. I suppose he just wanted to be honest with me."
***
Hwang, covered by his blanket, sighed. He knew he seemed cold and stern to her and he didn't really care. But he didn't want her to think he was weak. He's a man, he's made for war, made for duty, and he certainly wasn't weak. The main reason why he said that to Mina is that the last time he made a mistake and tried to hide it to protect his pride, he lost most of his men, and was dismissed from his place of Chief Commander of the Korean Coastal Defense Force. A thing he would never forget... Then, exhausted, he fell asleep.
Soon after he fell asleep he was involuntarly woke up by Mina who went to sleep too. "My God, it's really cold," she murmured.
"You're always complaining Mina," she heard him say.
"-That's not right," she answered a smile in the voice. Then a short silence. "Hwang, thank you."
"-Thank you for what ?"
"-For being honest."
No answer. (it wasn't a question anyway.) He obviously didn't want to talk about it anymore.
Mina came closer to him in order to find some warm place. "I'm really freezing." She gently placed her head on his bare shoulder.
***
End of Chapter 4