"Why... did you keep this a secret, Soo-Won?"
The question popped up from Yona's mouth, softly. But her tone... was nothing but hard.
Soo-Won stood back, hands falling to his sides.
Her eyes were wide with displeasure... horror. Something else that struck her mind like a thunderbolt.
Chapter 1: Secrets Revealed
Soo-Won had cast her away to a corridor in the castle to talk where he said King Il would not be near.
How was that a good thing? Yona did not know, but being naive as she was, she trusted Soo-Won.
She had already trusted him beforehand. For most of her life. She knew little about the world outside the castle... because her father did not let her do certain things.
Was that for her own good? She did not know. Neither did she really care.
But when Soo-Won said something rather... off, something inside her snapped a little.
"It would be best if King Il wasn't near us."
She wondered, perhaps it was that he simply wanted to talk to her alone?
Why? There was no way he wanted to spend time with her alone in a corridor like this. Soo-Won didn't love her the way she did. Her love for him was unrequited. Hak knew it too.
But she trusted him. Soo-Won would not hurt her.
"Yona." His green eyes were so intense. His shiny, dirty blond hair was tied in a ponytail, bangs falling about those eyes, shrouding them in darkness.
Darkness that Yona was ignorant of.
"Yona. Listen." They walked, but his mind was somewhere else, she suddenly had the inkling. "I'm about to say something very grave that I've been wanting to tell you for years."
For years?
"I'm sorry. I know that this might hurt you. Still, I should probably be honest. I didn't wish to be, but..."
Her mind went to the worst scenarios.
There's no way he knew about her feelings, right? Was he about to reject her?
No... impossible!
"Promise me that you'll believe me." Soo-Won mumbled.
Yona was confused. "...Eh?"
So when he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her very clearly in the eye, she could only stare at him, heart racing.
"Can you promise me that you'll believe me? That you'll keep it a secret?" His eyes were glimmering with intensity.
"S-Soo-Won... eh... what...?" Yona could only say. Was this a dream? What had gotten into him? It was so unlike him to be looking like this.
Soo-Won was mild-mannered usually, and treated her as a child. But... right now...
His face was serious, and rather close to hers.
She felt embarrassed, even though no one was around in these gardens.
"W-what's the matter?" She weakly said. Emotions rippled in her chest.
"I'm telling the truth, and I need you to promise me that you will. You were too young for this in the past... but this might change everything you know and how you view me. Can you promise that you'll stay calm?"
Yona's face had gone red as a spotlight. There was no way that he... returned... her... f-
No, that was impossible! But then, why was he looking at her like this? Did he no longer view her as a child?
Eh?!
"Y-yes!" Yona quickly took his hands in her own, smiling brightly at him. "I promise!"
Soo-Won looked at her smile, mouth slightly open. He hesitantly closed it.
Too cheerful. She had no idea.
And that's when he threw the bomb.
"Your father... King Il... killed mine."
Yona's smile faded.
Her hands let go of his.
"Eh..." she started. "What are you talking about, Soo-Won? This isn't the time to be making jokes."
She attempted to smile again, but at Soo-Won still not giving an answer, she couldn't.
A lump in her throat was forming. "Eh...? You're not joking?"
Soo-Won looked away. "...I'm not." He finally said.
Yona's voice had gone stiff and cold, and tiny. A huge silence permeated.
"...What? No..." She finally whispered. "Eh? Father killed...? But didn't Uncle Yu-Hon die in an accident? Riding too near a cliff? And why would Father kill a person? Father?" Her voice picked up in a combination of disbelief, pain, and anger, thinking about what Soo-Won had just alleged. "What are you trying to say, Soo-Won? Are you insulting my father?! He's the king!"
"No..." Soo-Won quickly replied, eyes widened as well. "No, I -"
"Then what are you saying?! Are you crazy?!" Yona was about to scream, but remembered her promise to him that she would stay calm. It stopped her against herself. Instead, for some reason, she decided she had to let him finish.
"I'm telling you this because I had to!" Soo-Won said, face ashen. "Your father... has hidden so much from you! You don't even know him! He killed my father!" He'd gotten emotional against himself. "King Il... he fought against conflict, but he killed my father! He stabbed him 10 years ago! And he kept that a secret from me... my mother... you and Hak! I've had to keep this a secret for years!"
Yona's face was the opposite of calm. She looked like she would burst into an explosion.
Her mouth trembled, not knowing where to start. "Why... did you keep this a secret, Soo-Won?"
Soo-Won was running his hands through his hair. "Because you were too young to know." Because... I... I wanted to take revenge. He couldn't say that to her. She would never look at him the same way again if so.
But such thoughts were already clambering through her... weren't they.
"Why would Father kill Uncle?! How?!"
"It's complicated..." He began. "But our fathers were fighting... it's a conflict that spans decades... there are parts to it that even I don't fully understand. The truth about this country, our family... and the state that your father has left it in. And you... you're the one he's pinned his hopes on, but has not educated!"
"Educated?"
"He's spoiled you with luxury and a cozy life, and rules half-assed. Day and night, you have no idea!" He spat, emotions that were hidden bubbling out of him. Hatred, even. "King Hiryuu, this, King Hiryuu, that!"
"King Hiryuu?!" Yona asked. "What's that have to do with me?"
She was so ignorant!
"He told me you were the reincarnation of Hiryuu. He believes you will save this country by finding out dragons that don't exist."
"Eh? But he's never told me that!" Yona exclaimed. "Are the four dragons real?!"
"N-no..." Soo-Won said. "I don't think they are. They're just delusions from a fable. But he believes that you will find them. That's why he's not properly ruling this country. He's entrusting everything to you... but he's hid that from you." As my father would have done.
"Why?!"
"Because..." Soo-Won did not know. "I don't know."
"Soo-Won, why should I believe you on any of this? You're joking, right?" Yona was looking at him like a complete stranger.
Now was the biggest bomb. Something he had never wanted to admit. Because this would make him truly give up on revenge.
"Yona. My father killed your mother."
"Eh...?"
"I didn't know. Father did it secretly according to what I heard. And I think... that's why your father killed mine."
Yona no longer knew if she could trust him. "Soo-Won, have you gone crazy? I'll go and tell my father all this, and he'll deny -"
"No!" Soo-Won grabbed at her arm again. "Of course he'll deny! Promise me you won't tell. Hak and I will figure something out."
"You've told Hak this crap?!" Yona cried out incredulously. "My mother was killed by your father? You didn't know?"
"Yes," Soo-Won hastily lied. Tears were forming in his eyes. Talking too much about his father made him like that.
Oh, he'd wanted this to be crap as well. That was the irony.
A laugh almost escaped from his mouth, but as he knew that would only horrify Yona, he kept his mouth shut about it.
But wrenching all this out was like... jumping into a sea. Difficult... wasteful of time... and risky. Was Yona old enough to understand his position?
"Please..." His voice had gone hoarse as he pleaded. "Please don't tell King Il..." Or else, I won't be able to get revenge.
His face had scrunched up, and all of a sudden, tears were spilling one after another on his face. He collapsed on the floor, still holding onto her sleeve.
He hated himself. He had no right to tell Yona about his problems and expect her to stay with him after thinking about revenge. But it still hurt.
He loved his father. He loved Yona too. He didn't want to let one or the other go. "Please..." He gasped. "Believe me..."
Yona looked at him, stunned. "Soo-Won..."
"I'm sorry..." He managed to say. He had never shown his crying face to Yona... no, not anyone. "Listen, Yona... Tell Hak this too... I'm... I'm going to die... my mother... is dead... she died from an illness... I'm not going to live long...! King Il... I... neither of us... are in ideal positions to rule this country... that's why I... I had to do something..."
"What?" She had frozen, but her knees were buckling as the information set in her mind. "Your mother is...? You're ill?"
"Don't... don't you want to kill me anyway?" He finally asked the question, knowing that whatever she said... would hurt him like anything.
Why was he asking that? Out of guilt?
He was supposed to be the strong one... not the vulnerable one. Why had the tables turned?
Yona was the child, not him. Yet she was now watching him cry. How embarrassing.
He'd decided to speak to her about this because the circumstances caused it... he'd gotten sick too early... he was losing strength...
He did not know who to rely on. He could not rule.
Curse King Hiryuu.
"Soo-Won..." Yona's eyes welled up in tears, seeing him like this, and her knees finally lost their strength. She fell to the ground. "No... no! Of course not. There's no way I'd want to kill you. But..."
But her feelings were complex as well. The thought of her father murdering his father... Uncle Yu-Hon killed her mother? The thought made her want to cry.
She no longer knew who to believe or what was the truth... but it was no lie that she still cared about Soo-Won.
She wanted to ask him more about all of this, but he seemed extremely unstable himself.
So to mitigate the situation, she relented. "All right... I won't tell. I promise. So please... please stop!"
She was too afraid to ask him if he wanted revenge... and that was all she could think about.
But she trusted Soo-Won. And he had trusted her enough to tell her.
With a quick hand, her hands touched his face, and wiped the tears from his cheeks.
He was surprised, and looked at her. She stared at him, and then hugged him.
"Please... stop this madness! Don't leave me. Soo-Won." She began to cry. "I... I've always... ever since I was little, you were the one I -"
In a world of reality perhaps
Soo-Won jumped up in bed, stunned.
It took a moment of him to be aware of his surroundings.
He was in the castle, in a cold sweat. His head was aching profusely.
Once again, a dream about her.
King Hiryuu. Yona.
Soo-Won could dimly register Yona's thereafter expression in the darkness. Her tearful embrace. Her promise. And her... unfinished confession.
Soo-Won rose from his bed.
Sometimes... he'd dream.
Dream about occurrences... what-ifs. If he'd been more honest with Yona. If he'd tried to not bear the entire burden alone.
Emotions he held back... always kept in check as if his own life depended on it... because only he could lead this nation now.
It was impossible from the beginning... but was it possible?
He hadn't known how she felt about him for most of his life...
He hadn't known what to tell her... and keeping secrets... from both of them. Yona and Hak. Was that the right thing to do?
In the office, his mother's memoir in King Il's possession, still lay there.
But if he had been honest... he'd not known who he'd be able to trust after that.
No, he could not falter.
The Yona in the dream... that's right... that was just a dream.
Would she have handled his words so maturely? There was no doubt that some of her reactions in the dream may have been just his wishful thinking.
What a silly dream.
The real her... she'd want him dead for sure.
And he would have to face the fact that she was truly King Hiryuu's reincarnation.
The most unneeded existence in this world.
Soo-Won quickly dressed, and went to check on his guards.
The dark sky slowly began to brighten.
This is the first chapter of my story! What did you think? I've done 5 chapters so far so I'll be posting the others soon.