Category: Hurt and Comfort, Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Yona, Hak, Jae-Ha

Requested by: Snow3bunny (Ao3)

Hak absentmindedly twirled his weapon in a circle in his hands as he sat hunched on the steps leading to the grand palace doors. Before him, the rain pattered steadily over the stone walkway and garden grass; it had been raining heavily for about an hour now, and the water had begun to saturate the courtyard, forming an inch-thick layer of liquid over the ground's surface. Hak had been restless in his room, and so he had meandered out into the night to watch the rain fall from the heavens. It was soothing, but not soothing enough; he could not shake that prickling at the base of his neck, those waves of shivers that made goosebumps rise across his skin and adrenaline sing in his veins- that feeling that something was wrong. Hak's instincts were tempered steel and made very few mistakes; if he was reading the atmosphere of the castle accurately, his very soul scenting the minute change in the air like a prized bloodhound, then something was most assuredly afoot. However, he had no idea what, nor how to figure that out.

He was almost certain, however, that it had to do with the princess.

His hand snapped around the staff of his weapon as loud splashing resounded amidst the consistent pebbling of the raindrops. One splash, then another, then another, and then there he was, the green-haired dragon with that damn smug smirk he always wore on his long face. Hak narrowed his eyes as he appeared before him but resumed lackadaisically twirling the weapon around now that it was apparent there was no threat.

"Out for a midnight walk? You'll catch cold like that, dragon or no," he scoffed, propping his elbow on his knee so that he could lean his cheek into his hand. Jae-ha's mouth curled further into a leer, but Hak tensed when he saw the dullness in his normally mischievous eyes. He could see it in the lines in his face; something was up. "What is it?" he asked, straightening up to stare at him intently.

"It's Yona." Nightmarish scenarios immediately began flashing through Hak's mind and he captured the staff in a white-knuckled grip as a cold flush blasted through every vein in his body. "She's very upset," he added quickly before Hak could devolve to quickly into mania. His dripping jade green hair flopped around his shoulders as he took hasty looks around, before he hurriedly stalked over to Hak and held a hand up to cover his mouth as he murmured, "Something is wrong with the king, apparently. She's tight-lipped about it; no doubt, it's something that can easily get you and Yoon killed." Hak's mania had petered out into a consistent cold pulsing, but it spiked again- frustratingly so- at the mention that something was the matter with Soo-Won. He had never imagined it possible to hate someone so intensely but still never wish them any sort of harm, but that's what he felt about his once best friend. His eyebrows dove down into sharp peaks, considering what he was about to do.

It was stupid, and reckless, and dangerous. All parties involved could get in deep trouble. Whatever Yona had been scheming against Soo-Won in her private time could effectively go up in flames.

Still, his princess needed him, and he be damned if he wasn't there in her time of need.

"Take me to her."

Her dress was a puddle of pink around her as she kneeled down beside the window, face buried into her hands as she cried softly. She didn't notice the shadow of Jae-ha and Hak's forms follow her as they landed lightly in the windowsill. She whipped around with a gasp as Jae-ha lightly tapped his fingertips against the cold glass, and when she realized it was the two of them, she jumped forward to scramble and open the latch.

"Hak!" she cried as he hopped down into the room. She immediately latched herself to him, burying her face deep into his soaked robes. He leaned down over her as he gently embraced her, stroking her soft dawn-colored hair. Before his face could soften into an expression of affection, Jae-Ha coughed loudly behind him.

"I feel like such a third wheel," he griped loudly. Hak felt Yona heat up in a body-wide blush at his obvious remark, and Hak glared at him over his shoulder. Smug bastard. Hak looked down at Yona to find her teary eyes staring up at him, wide and hurt and pleading, but also alight with weak happiness.

"Hak… I've missed you so much," she whispered. His face wasn't sure what expression to make; though normally he would've been overjoyed to hear her say such a thing, with Jae-ha there, it was incredibly awkward. The dragon was currently playing with the curtains with an amused look. He was blatantly enjoying making Hak shy, apparently. Hak made a mental note to give him a good whack upside his head later. Right now, the princess demanded his immediate attention. He swept his thumbs across her reddening cheeks to wipe away her tears.

"Don't worry, Princess. I'm here now," he assured her softly. His hands stiffened against her face as he recalled why Jae-ha had brought him there in the first place; Yona was upset about something concerning Soo-Won. His mind immediately flew to dastardly possibilities; could the king have done something to her? What more could he do to add to Yona's suffering? It was already bad enough that she was mostly forbidden from interacting with them. He felt his jaw tensing in ire. Soo-Won… You bastard… She doesn't deserve any of this! "Princess," he stated firmly, "tell me what's wrong. Did Soo-Won do something to you? I swear, I'll kill-"

"No!" she interjected quickly. With a meek whimper, she buried her face back into his chest, her small hands twisting the fabric of his clothes further. "No… It's nothing like that…" Her soft whisper was so muffled by his dense clothes that he could barely hear her. Hak stared down at the distraught princess. He felt so powerless. What burden was she bearing that she couldn't even tell him? With a gentle sigh, he grabbed both her hands to guide them around to his back, allowing her to squeeze him in a desperate hug. Her shoulder shook with wracking sobs that she was desperately trying to keep quiet. "Hak… What… What should I do?" As she shook her head against him, her tears smeared in glittering lines across his upper chest. "I don't want to lose anyone… Not even… Not even Soo-Won. I can't forgive him for what he did, not ever, but… I also can't bear the thought of him dying. Every time you two fight, it pains me so deeply. Do you hate me for that?"

Admittedly, Hak did feel a deep, sharp stab of jealously cut through his heart. It made every cell in his body pulse at once. Yet… He wasn't angry. How could he be? He himself was unsure of how he truly felt about his childhood friend. If it really came down to it, even after everything… Could he really allow Soo-Won to die? He talked a big game, but if it came down to it, could he really kill Soo-Won himself? If he was truly, brutally honest with himself, he didn't think he could.

"No. Of course not, Princess."

"How did things end up like this?" she lamented woefully. "The three of us… Used to exist so peacefully under the same sky, but now… Everything is so confusing. I don't even know anymore if Soo-Won was ever with us in the first place. Did we ever know him at all? When we laughed together and played together, what did he really feel? Were any of those smiles honest?" As she further dissolved into misery, Hak could feel his heart clenching in his chest. He didn't know what to do. Why did he never know what to do? He could lay all her enemies low, but when it came to the things that really mattered, Hak never really knew what to say.

Soo-Won was always the one who was really good at that.

So, he didn't say anything. He enveloped her in a tight hug, forehead falling into her short waving tresses of bright red hair. "Was I wrong all this time? Should I have done something differently? Hak… I'm sorry… I got you in this mess…" she croaked weakly.

"Don't say sorry," he growled. His arms locked tighter around her, as if he could forcibly purge all the ill feelings swirling around in her body. "Never say sorry to me. Never bow your head to me. You are the princess. Where you go, I will follow. Whatever decisions you make, I will honor. It's that simple. I do these things not because I feel obligated, but because you are my princess which I am proud to serve. Don't forget that." At first, his voice had a hard edge to it, but as he went on, it gradually softened. "Princess… I know it's overwhelming right now, but what you must do is think of what's best for your kingdom. You are not alone in this. You have me, and Yoon, and your dragons. If you told us you wanted to raze this very castle to the ground, we would do it gladly," he whispered into her crimped curled of hair. He felt Yona exhale deeply and slump against him with crushing relief. Good… She heard me.

"Yes," she breathed into him. "You're right, Hak. Thank you."

It took her a few minutes to detach herself from him. He didn't begrudge her for it. He didn't know when the next time he would see her would be, so he allowed her to soak up as much as his presence as she could to get her through the trials ahead. When she finally did pull away from him, she wiped the lingering tears from her puffy red eyes before giving him a confident smile. That determined sparkle was back in her eyes. She would be all right.

"We should get going. They won't react kindly if we're caught," Jae-ha quipped nonchalantly from behind him. Hak continued to stand tersely in front of the princess; honestly, he didn't want to leave. It was hell, not being able to see her, to know she was safe. He knew he had to go, though. She stared expectantly up at him, waiting for him to turn back. Before he did, he gently took her chin between her thumb and forefinger, tilted her face up, and pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

Then he let Jae-ha take him away before he could get embarrassed and make a fool of himself.

The dragon brought him into the palace garden. The rain was still falling in a steady drizzle. Within a minute, his black hair was slicked to his forehead and his clothes slightly heavier from the amount of moisture they soaked up. Jae-ha dropped him down behind the sturdy trunk of a sprawling tree that provided ample protection from any prying eyes. Jae-ha went to say his good-byes, and that's when everything hit Hak like a cannonball; groaning, he slumped heavily against his side and laid his head down on his shoulder. His legs felt like jelly, shaking violently as his knees did their best to support his warrior's bulk.

"Droopy-Eyes, just… Just let me… For just a minute." He hated the obvious tremble in his voice, but there wasn't much he could do about it. His hand screwed into the area above his heart, twisting the fabric there like a whirlpool. It felt like someone had stabbed him, really. It wasn't often that Hak's emotions got the better of him; for the princess' sake as well as that of his pride, he kept a tight lid on all those inconvenient feelings. However, he wasn't infallible. Every once in a while, they would bubble over, boiling and intense. His face scrunched up in agony, teeth bared like fangs as he tried to shove them back into the box he had buried them in. Now was not the time. He was grateful for the rain streaming down his face, because it masked the prickling tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. He was grateful for Jae-ha, too, who just silently supported him without offering a sarcastic barb or teasing quip. He could be a nice guy when he wanted to be.

"It's cruel," the green-haired man remarked suddenly. Hak lifted his head to see him staring off into the distance; he followed his gaze to a high tower window, where he could just make out Soo-Won sitting in the window watching the rain fall over his kingdom. Hak could almost think that he looked lonely and sad as he was doing so. The spiteful part of him snarled that it was no less than he deserved. "Yona, you, the king… The fate of the country all lies with you. It's a heavy burden for anyone to bear."

"Yeah, well," Hak huffed as he forced himself back into a standing position. "I'll take the weight of the world if it means I can see the princess smile again." His eyes narrowed as Soo-Won rose from the window and wrenched the curtain shut.

Yona heard him. She had the strength to keep going, to find out how all of this would play out. That's all that mattered right now. Now, Hak just had to wait for his princess' orders.

Waiting was something he could do well.