"Let me go with this time."
Lili stands behind Soo-Won at his desk in his palace library. What he's always writing and studying in here is always a mystery to her. But she came to the palace to better understand him. To watch him. She wonders how well could he continue to hide his motivations when out in action.
"Going to Kai is going to be dangerous. This isn't like Xing or even what you experienced with nadai in your own lands. It will be war."
"I know that," Ugh, has he not paid attention to her this whole time she's been here? He still treats her like a General's fragile daughter, "Like hell."
Soo-Won finally turns. He tilts his head at Lili, curious, "Is that something you'd like to see?"
She shrugs.
"Or is there, rather, someone you'd like to see," he holds his gaze steady on her.
The silence is long.
"You should stay here," Soo-Won turns back toward his writing.
Lili scrunches her face in frustration, then lifts her chin in defiance, "If I can't join you, I'll go on my own."
Soo-Won smiles ever so slightly at her persistence, "Then I'd rather you join us."
"That's it? Just like that?"
"There's no arguing with you, Lady Lili. I shouldn't have tried."
Maybe he has been paying attention? As she turns to leave, she notices the hairpin on his desk. It's unmistakable - the exact same one she gave back to Yona after Sei.
Soo-Won notices her standing there staring, shaken, "Are you OK?"
"How did you get that?! Did you..." She stops herself as her mind races. She thought peace negotiations had taken place at the border of Xing. She knew Yona had been there. They said no blood was shed. But how did he... ?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Soo-Won holds as even as ever.
As Lili leaves the room, she passes Min-Soo on her way. He, too, notices the hairpin on Soo-Won's desk, even more fully realizing the danger it signals.
"Hold still and quit flirting!"
A shirtless Jae-Ha sits in a Wind tribe medical tent as Yun changes his bandages. Jae-Ha turns his attention from one of the Wind nurses back to Yun and sighs pleasantly, "Hak wasn't lying about the beauties in this region."
"You have to be alive if you want to seduce women. Quit moving or I'm leaving you for dead."
"You wouldn't," Jae-Ha teases, "You're our dear mother, Yun. We rely on you to put up with us. We need you."
Yun sighs, "Enough, enough - your tricks won't work on me."
"Oh good, have you brought Yona Dear with you?" Jae-Ha calls to Shin-Ah, Kija, and Zeno as they enter.
"The Little Miss isn't with us," Zeno volunteers, "But she'll be lively for dinner."
Jae-Ha does a quick accounting of the group and knows immediately what must be happening, "Did they go somewhere together?"
He turns to Shin-Ah who gives a stoic nod.
"Nearby I hope," Kija chides, "She should bring at least one of us with as well if she goes outside of town because-" Kija's protective rant is cut off by another complaint from Yun, "Now you're too tense! Loosen up."
"...my apologies," Jae-Ha barely gets out. He's surprised by his own reaction to what he knows must be going on. He's wanted this moment to happen for them for a long time. But Dragon's blood is a powerful thing. He has to get a handle on this.
"Kija, I think they need to be alone."
As innocent Kija starts to think about why on Earth Yona would need to be alone with Hak...
Yona steps backwards in shock - she stumbles her steps and falls to the ground, both hands on the grass and her eyes wide. She stares up at Hak, who's frozen, concerned.
She starts smiling in disbelief. Tears in her eyes, "You dummy."
Hak scratches his head, "This is a little confusing."
"Come here so I can hit you!"
Unsure and braced, he moves to her side. She huffs at him with her beautiful, adorable pout, "I said I loved you last night and you didn't say anything!"
Hmmm... if that was too long to make her wait, Hak realizes this is really, really not the moment to reveal how long he's been in love with her. So he picks another truth instead, "I thought you were just saying that!"
"Why would someone just say something like that?!"
"It wouldn't be the first time!"
"What?!"
"You don't remember? Tae-Jun. The day I became your bodyguard."
Yona thinks back, then smiles and starts cracking up, "Oh yeah."
They both smile in reverie, then, "So... you didn't just say it to save me from Mundok?"
Yona closes her eyes for a moment in awe of her thickheaded, adorable general, then she opens them filled with sincerity. She turns to him, he still in a nervous state of doubt and confusion, and crawls onto him. Then, pushing him back onto the soft ground, she brings her parted lips to his stupid, sexy mouth. Once the sweet, soft contact is made, she presses into him and all the tension in his body begins to melt away.
Yona started the kiss, but it doesn't take long for Hak to take the lead - he moves his arms around her and pulls her closer to him as his mouth responds with a growing hunger. But she pulls away, just a little... there's something she has to make sure he knows, "There's only one reason I keep kissing you, Hak," she shakes her head just thinking about the depth of her feeling, "I love you. Truly."
There's no sarcastic response. No joke. No more confusion. Hak's eyes are wide with amazed realization as he runs a hand across her cheek and through her hair. As though touching her romantically for the first time, he gently brings her face down to meet his once more and takes her mouth in his slowly, deeply. She feels the emotion of the kiss to the point she's overwhelmed.
"Ahhmm," she moans and shifts on top of him. She wants to feel more of him, to get closer. She rubs against him, then again - so naturally it's truly innocent, but...
"Princess," Hak pulls his mouth back, his hands on her sides. Yona looks down at him, processing what she's feeling against their clothes and the resulting overload of physical reactions and mounting desires. Her thighs weaken as her chest hardens and a warmth shoots through her entire body driving her insane with a desperate wish, need, to continue.
"Hak," Yona pleads, "It's OK."