Morning arrives. As birds chirp into the distance, warm sunlight seeping through the leaves and the quiet rustles of squirrels running across the trees, Eunji has been awake for the entire night. When Chorong shifts slightly on her shoulder, the bodyguard tenses and looks over, wondering if the Princess has woken up.

“…Princess?” Eunji asks with a gentle tone. Not the kind of harsh, stern tone that she uses with General Siwon, nor the robotic style when given orders. Today, it feels a little bit more human.

Chorong rubs her eyes as she looks at her bodyguard. Staring down at the dried blood and pale cuts on Eunji’s skin was enough to jog the nightmare from yesterday. It’s not a dream. The kingdom has fallen. Her parents are dead and they are wanted fugitives by the people of Tonghwa.

But it’s not like this was supposed to be a surprise. The Princess expected something like this to happen on the day of her twenty-first birthday. Hongsa is the only place that can keep her safe. Although it’s a four-hour trek by foot and a two-hour climb across the Wongdo mountains, she has Eunji with her.

The bodyguard that she hand-picked by herself.

“We should start moving.” Chorong says as she rises from her feet, but stumbles halfway. Eunji catches her easily and gives her a concerned look. The Princess shakes her head and tells her that its fine.

“Allow me to carry you Princess. Walking on foot will take a toll on you.”

“No. It’s fine. I can walk, Eunji.” Chorong persists as she suddenly grabs the pin from her hair. Without warning, she removes it and lets her silky hair to flow down freely onto her shoulders. This takes Eunji by surprise as she looks at her stunned.

The princess is aware that going onto this difficult journey while wearing her fancy dress and colourful, expensive hair accessories will certainly pose a challenge. For most royalties, they prefer to stay elegant even when outside the palace. But for Chorong, she was taught to always be humble and be one with the people.

“P-Princess? W-What are you doing?” Eunji stutters as her face grows red, watching Chorong undo her dress openly. The bodyguard quickly turns around as it is only respectful to not look.

The princess throws her dress away and wears nothing but a thin tunic. Then, she grabs Eunji’s sword from behind, leaving the bodyguard surprised and slices her skirt into half. She tears it apart and ties the edges together into makeshift shorts.

“Eunji, please do me a favour.” Chorong sighs. “From now onwards, I do not want you to address me as Princess. Please call me by my given name.”

“But-“

“People outside of Muhwa do not know what I look like and therefore, it will be safer if my identity is kept a secret. After all, princesses are not favoured greatly by the lower class.”

Eunji goes silent for a moment but later nods. “Understood, Chorong.”

“Good. From now on, you’re going to be my travelling partner, Eunji. Turn around.”

The princess smiles when Eunji finally shows her face again. She’s had enough of seeing her back. For the bodyguard, she finds her heart beating once again. When their eyes meet, the princess Eunji once knew, has become so different. No more gown. None of that colourful, sparkling and heavy accessories on her body. Today, the princess is just like any other ordinary citizen living in town.

No one would even think that she’s a princess.

“Travelling partner…” Eunji mumbles as she follows Chorong who crouches over some bushes.

“Yup.”

The princess nods as she plucks some berries and attempts to feed her. Eunji freezes as she certainly doesn’t want to put anything strange inside .

“It’s safe to eat Eunji. Trust me. It’s sweet.” Chorong assures.

Eunji raises her eyebrow in doubt but opens . Chorong feeds her and lets the bodyguard chew onto the berries. The princess giggles when she sees Eunji’s eyes lighting up at the burst of sweetness inside.

“It’s…delicious, prin- I mean, Chorong.”

“I told you.” Chorong throws the remaining berries into and dusts her hands.

“Father never lets me touch these things. He’s scared that I will fall sick because its too raw. But he doesn’t know that sometimes, I’m a rebel. I didn’t tell you this but I used to sneak out of the palace to take long walks in the forest. Of course, Ho-Dong was always by my side. Most of the times, he would teach me the types of plants and herbs. What is edible, what is used for medicine. But sometimes, he would also nag at me because I don’t listen to him.”

Chorong loses her smile when the princess realises that Ho-Dong is probably dead as well. Eunji notices the sudden silence and decides to change the topic. “We must start moving.”

“Yes. We should go.”

Despite the long walk through the quiet forests, Chorong makes small conversations with Eunji. There has been progress over the past year. Eunji was once a quiet, reserved girl who put up a wall around the princess. But now, she’s able to express herself and more recently, make jokes. She’s slowly revealing the little pieces about herself and it makes the princess elated.

“…and the old man was absolutely devasted when I beat him in a game of Go!” Chorong’s cheery laughter ringed into the air as she recalled the happy moments in the palace. Strategic games were her kind of forte and she loved a challenge.

 “That reminds me about how the general once challenged me to spar one of the best soldiers in Muhwa. Everyone thought I would lose and places bets that he would win. It’s a pity that they made the wrong decision.” Eunji smiles as she recalls a memory.

“Of course. You are the best fighter in all of Muhwa.” Chorong grins with so much pride. “That’s why you are my bodyguard.”

The way Chorong says that with so much of confidence is really the sole reason why Eunji vowed to never let down her expectations. She knows that she is everything to Chorong. She is the princess’ weapon and tool that will never be discarded.

“That reminds me…” Chorong halts her steps as she looks back. “Can you teach me how to fight?”

Eunji widens her eyes. “…That’s dangerous.”

“I know.” Chorong shrugs. “My father always says that a princess shouldn’t be fighting. That fighting makes a princess look improper and ugly. But I want to at least learn how to defend myself. What if you’re not around?”

“I will always be around.” Eunji cuts in. “What makes you think that I will be gone?”

Chorong looks down as she hesitates to say what’s on her mind. “What if…you’ll die too-“

“I won’t.”

Eunji denies this completely. She notices the fear in Chorong’s eyes, the thought that one day, she too will die along the way, in this world filled with war and destruction.

“Please believe in me. I won’t die.”

“But I still want to learn, Eunji.” The princess clenches her fist, the gaze in her eyes have suddenly changed to determination. “I want to fight alongside with you!”

I want to fight alongside with you.

That very sentence echoes loudly inside Eunji’s chest. As much as she is aware of the risk, the danger, she also understands how frustrating it is, to be in a situation where she cannot help and simply watch. Usually, the King will never allow this. But he is no longer in this world.

Perhaps, she could.

“Very well.” Eunji sighs. “When we take a break, I will teach you the basics.”

At that, Chorong jumps happily and hugs Eunji. “Thank you!”

Flustered by the sudden action, the bodyguard begins to heat up at the contact and literally freezes like a statue. Once again, her heart jumps and she doesn’t know what to do with these fuzzy feelings.

xxx

“Hold it like this.”

Eunji demonstrates as she stands behind the princess, arms positioned onto the grip with Chorong’s hands following suit. The bodyguard tries hard to ignore the close proximity between them and focuses on the lesson. “I’m going to let the sword go now so that you can get comfortable with the weight.”

“Wow!” Chorong gasps as she almost drops the sword. But she manages to hold the heavy blade upwards. Thrilled, she turns around, “It’s so heavy!” and almost slashes Eunji’s face.

“Princess!” Eunji shouts as a sweat rolled down her cheek, nervous to have someone else hold her weapon. “You nearly killed me there. Please be careful!”

“Okay, sorry!” Chorong laughs it off, completely not aware that she could’ve scarred Eunji’s face and returns to her position, raising her arms upright with the sword aligned straight. “Do I just attack?”

“No.”

Eunji shakes her head with a chuckle, finding her question very innocent. “Let’s start with a simple move. Follow me.”

The bodyguard demonstrates again, this time, putting her left foot forward as she arches her arm backwards and then swings it across. Chorong watches Eunji and does the same. She struggles with the swing as the sword is just too heavy for her. It’s a little clumsy but the princess manages.

“I did it!” The princess says with much excitement.

“This isn’t a game…” Eunji sighs, but she smiles at the princess who seems to be having a lot of fun. As long as she isn’t looking sad or crying, that should be enough.

“Do that same move again until you get it right.”

“Okay.”

Chorong nods enthusiastically as she continues the same moves, over and over again. But it doesn’t take long for the princess to get tired. Her muscles start to ache and while she doesn’t say anything, Eunji can already tell that it’s enough for today. After all, her arms are starting to shake.

“Princess, I think it’s time for you to rest.”

“No. I’m perfectly fine. I can keep doing this!” Chorong says as she’s clumsily swinging Eunji’s sword around, ignoring the pain in her arms.

“Princess…” Eunji steps forward and attempts to snatch the weapon away. “Please stop! Otherwise, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

The bodyguard tries to reach her arm forward. She manages to grab her wrist and pulls the princess backwards. But she used too much strength. All of a sudden, Chorong falls towards her and causes the two to tumble to the ground. The sword falls off. Chorong lands on top of Eunji, head buried into her chest, hands touching her arms.

“Ouch…are you okay Eunji?” T

he princess groans as she raises her head, pausing as she realises that they are barely an inch apart. She blushes. Eunji does the same. But this contact only lasts for a mere second.

“O-Oh! I’m so sorry!” Chorong quickly jumps off Eunji, fluttering her hands nervously and bowing her head profusely.

Eunji rubs the back of her head as she rises. “It’s fine…” She mumbles shyly, hoping that the loud beating of her heart isn’t heard by the princess. “Let’s just…continue with the journey.”

“Y-Yes. Let’s…”

The rest of their journey continues with Chorong arguing that they can live off picking fruits and berries while Eunji counters by saying that hunting animals or fish would be a better choice. The bodyguard wins when the princess’ stomach starts to rumble loudly.

“Don’t laugh!” Chorong fumes shyly.

“I’m sorry princess. But I’m afraid I win.” Eunji smiles as she rolls up her sleeves and approaches the stream. “Please watch me!” She confidently says and dips her feet into the water, scanning the water for fishes swimming past.

The bodyguard stays still for a couple of minutes until she notices one fish passing through. At that point, she takes out her sword and stabs it straight in. Eunji cheers with triumph as she raises it into the air, the fish wriggling between the blade. Chorong claps in response and tells Eunji to hurry up and cook.

“Princess….”

“I told you not to call me princess.”

Eunji sighs as she proceeds to gather some leaves and stones. “Chorong. Fish is a much better meal than berries and fruits.” She tries to make her point heard while starting the fire. But it seems that the princess is just too fascinated with the spark of friction between the stones.

“Wow, how do you that?” Chorong looks on and observes Eunji wrapping the fish with the leave and placing it next to fire, letting it roast. “Teach me.”

“Well, I suppose it is better to teach you how to hunt rather than learning how to fight.”

“I want to learn everything!”

Eunji chuckles and nods.

“I will teach you. After all, you have taught me so many things about this world.” She looks up at the princess, always grateful for all the lessons. “You taught me how to be a kind human being, how to be normal, how to bathe, eat properly-“

Chorong lowers her head shyly, not expecting to hear all this from her bodyguard. “Okay. You can stop now…”

“Very well.” Eunji smiles as the two sit around the fire, waiting for the fish to cook. The bodyguard realises that the princess has been sheltered her whole life. Anything outside of the palace, is a strange world to her.

“What were you doing before you ended up in the Coliseum?” Chorong asks, realising that she’s never really explored the past of her bodyguard. She was so focused on grooming her into a proper warrior and ensuring that she never has to experience such a horrible life again.

“I was a beggar.” Eunji confesses. “That’s why I learned how to survive the hard way.” She looks at her hands that are always full with blisters and scars. “I fought with people. I stole food. I kept running away because I wanted to live. And then, at the age of ten, I heard people talking about the Coliseum and how you can make money there.”

“And eight years later, I came into your life and freed you.” Chorong continues. Eunji nods.

“I am forever indebted to you, princess. Life in the Coliseum was hell. Everyday was a bet against life and death. I couldn’t sleep, thinking it could be my last day on Earth.”

“Eunji…” The princess notices the change of colour in her bodyguard’s eyes. She is beginning to remember those harsh times.

“Its okay. I’m thankful that I joined the Coliseum because in the end, I got to meet you.” Eunji smiles at Chorong. “And I think that’s the best decision ever.”

The princess looks onto her bodyguard softly. She’s grown and matured a lot in just one year.

“The fish should be ready. Let’s eat.” Eunji says as she unwraps the leave and reveals the fish now cooked in a coated brown, its juices overflowing through its crispy skin.

Chorong salivates as she watches Eunji peeling it and feeding her a piece. The princess hesitates for a moment but lets Eunji feed her. She melts into the soft, tender taste of the fish meat and into the flavours.

“It’s good isn’t it?” Eunji asks. Chorong nods and asks for another bite. “This tastes better than the palace.” Eunji laughs and agrees completely.

When they arrive at the foot of Wongdo mountains, Eunji insists that it will be better if she carries the princess all the way up. However, Chorong argues that she can make it through the climb. The bodyguard counters that she cannot allow her to get hurt with cuts.

“I told you I’m not a princess anymore.” Chorong cuts in. “I’m just Chorong. An ordinary person.”

Eunji sighs and rolls her eyes, eventually giving up. “Fine. But please watch your step and be careful.” The bodyguard takes the lead, easily passing through the first hurdles of steep slopes. She often looks back, making sure that Chorong doesn’t trip and fall.

“I told you I can handle this.” Chorong says, taking her sweet time going up. But then, her foot slips against a slippery stone. Eunji catches her in the nick of time.

“What did I tell you?”

There is a sense of anger in her tone, something that surprises Chorong because her bodyguard never shows any sort of expression other than happiness, sadness or just nothing at all. For the first time, Eunji is angry.

“Princess. Please let me carry you.” The bodyguard literally begs in her voice. Chorong purses her lips and eventually gives in. “Okay.”

The climb is definitely made a lot easier as Eunji breezes through with Chorong clung to her like a koala. The princess hears her breaths and gasps ringing into her ears and honestly, it’s making her feeling kind of hot. Chorong tightens her grip instead, not wanting these weird thoughts in her head.

“Tell me if you’re tired okay?”

“I’m never tired.” Eunji says confidently as she grunts, taking stride steps forward. She eventually jumps across the other side and keeps pushing through like its nothing.

“Are you a monkey?” Chorong adds.

“No.” Eunji scoffs.

“You’re sweating a lot…”

“Obviously. But its not because you’re heavy, princess.”

This makes Chorong smile as she clings tighter onto Eunji. “I’m going to close my eyes so tell me once we’ve reached the top okay?”

“Princess…are you perhaps…afraid of heights?”

She doesn’t answer so Eunji takes that as a yes.

By the time the two reach to the top, the sun has started to set. It creates an orange hue across the sky and honestly, it looks like a beautiful painting. A small breeze greets them.

“Princess, we have arrived.”

Chorong opens her eyes and wows in amazement at the view. She gets down from Eunji and reaches her hand towards the clouds, embracing the beauty of nature in its true form. Suddenly, she clasps her hands together and starts to pray. Eunji looks on curiously, wondering what must be going on inside her mind. When Chorong is done, she notices that Eunji is staring at her. The bodyguard blushes and looks away. This makes her chuckle.

“My father always told me that when we witness something so beautiful, we can make a wish.” Chorong explains. “Why don’t you make a wish too?”

“I don’t believe in things like that.” Eunji shrugs. “Come on. We must hurry as the sun is setting.” She crouches and expects Chorong to climb on her again. The princess shakes her head. “Let’s rest for today. Tomorrow we will hike down.”

“As you wish, princess.”

“Hey, I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“I’m sorry. It’s out of habit…”

Chorong chuckles. “It’s fine.”

xxx

“Let her go!”

Eunji shouted as she’s trapped in this man’s grip, unable to break through. She hates this. Being small, weak and unable to help her friends. “Stop it!!!” She screamed, watching her being taken away. And a sharp slap stings her face. Body thrown to the floor as she coughed.

“Quiet, you little mouse.”

Eunji groaned as the man stepped on her, kicked her and left to die in the dark alleyway. Blood dripping from her head, she’s slowly losing her consciousness.

Once again, she’s left all alone. Abandoned and all of her friends taken away.

Eunji opens her eyes wide as the dream stops. She’s in a cold sweat, this familiar fear creeping up her spine. No. The bodyguard shakes her head as she can’t believe she dozed off. While it’s understandable since she’s gone without sleep for a day, but this is a huge mistake.

Chorong is gone.

The bodyguard panics as she immediately grabs her sword and calls out her name. No response. She looks around and notices the footprints on the ground. She follows them and soon, catches wave that they aren’t alone. Of course. She forgot that there are always bandits lurking in these areas, preying on weak travellers for their money. In a far distance, she can hear the princess’ screams and shouts. She hurries.

“Let go of her!”

Eunji yells as she brandishes her blade towards the three bandits. One is attempting to tie Chorong up as the princess struggles. The other ready to touch her body and another sharpening his knife. Oh.

That mere sight boils her blood so much. It pisses the out of Eunji. No one should ever touch the princess like that. No one but her.

“Look at that, your knight in shining armour has come to your rescue!” The bandit teases, not even a tiny bit intimidated.

“Chorong. Close your eyes.” Eunji orders calmly despite the scowl on her face. The princess does as she’s told and in that minute of darkness, everything happens so quickly.

Clear sounds of blades clashing, cries of the bandits and sound of their bodies plopping to the floor, Chorong feels herself being picked up. She doesn’t fight back because she recognises this touch. It’s warm, comforting and makes her feel safe.

“Princess. You may open your eyes now.”

Chorong looks up to Eunji carrying her in bridal-style. The first thing she notices is her precious bodyguard stained in the blood of her enemies once again. The princess cups Eunji’s cheek and circles her thumb around its wound.

“You’re hurt.”

Eunji shakes her head in reply. “It’s nothing.” She stays silent until the woman finally apologises. “I’m sorry. I did not keep my promise. I woke up and the next thing, you were gone. I shouldn’t have slept.”

“No. This isn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself.” Chorong gives her a gentle smile. “I woke up first and wanted to find some food for us. But I was too naïve to think that we are alone.”

“The next time you want to go somewhere, please, wake me up.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Chorong nods as she decides to stay in Eunji’s embrace for the time being. They have to hike down the mountain and it will do nothing but worry the bodyguard if she insists on walking by herself. Instead, the princess finds herself slowly falling asleep to the consistent, rhythmical breathing of Eunji. Ears pressed against her chest; it feels like a soothing lullaby.

“Father! Father!”

A young five-year old Chorong runs into the arms of the King who has returned from a council meeting. The man laughs as he carries the girl up in the air.

“How is my lovely princess doing?”

The memory cuts to the Queen reading Chorong a fairy-tale story before she goes to sleep. Sometimes, she would ask her mother to sing her a lullaby. She remembers every single tune and the exact lyrics.

“Mommy, what is love?”

The Queen hums in thought, although happy that her daughter has asked.

“Love is when you want to be with someone forever, until the end of your life.”

“Even when you die?”

She nods. “Even when you die.” The woman repeats. “Do you have someone you love, Chorong?”

The little girl nods excitedly. “Of course! I love mom and dad a whole lot!” The Queen laughs and ruffles her hair. “And we love you too.” She presses a kiss on Chorong’s cheek.

A tear rolls down Chorong’s cheek as she wakes up from the dream. A dream that seemed too good to be true. Her parents whom she loved with her whole heart, a sudden realisation that she will never see them again.

“Princess, are you okay?”

When she hears that voice full of concern, a familiar tune to her ears, the same person who always calls her Princess without fail, even when she told her not to. Chorong wakes up in the arms of Eunji.

“I’m okay. Just…a bad dream.”

“I see.”

“Where are we?”

Eunji gives her a smile as she finally puts the princess down. Chorong looks at the view. From afar, she sees building in her sight. The faint sound of people chattering. They made it.

The small village of Hongsa.

--

a/n: through the many challenges, eunrong finally arrive at Hongsa. with a princess on the run and her bodyguard, will they continue to keep running away forever? also, other apink members have yet to make their appearance but they will slowly along the chapters~ updates are gonna be much slower than usual cause life kinda hits you out of nowhere ;_; but i'll promise to keep working on this story when i have the time!