08/04/12

The country that Victoria and Hyuna came from was really different. But, exactly how different was it?

            It was a warm evening at the camp. A month had already passed, and the advisors decided to host a small party to celebrate the one month anniversary. After eating dinner, everybody gathered outside to witness the magical fireworks set off by the advisors.

            “Come on, Vic! Let’s go see the fireworks!” Hyuna pulled on Victoria’s sleeve.

            Victoria shook her head and rubbed her temples. “No, Hyuna. I’m really tired right now.”

            Hyuna stopped tugging and slowly walked up to Victoria. She studied her face. “Wow, you look tired. Is something wrong?”

            “I don’t know,” Victoria replied. “I just probably need more sleep.”

            “Alright,” Hyuna said, leading Victoria back to her room. After she made sure Victoria was in her room, Hyuna turned her head and went outside to where the fireworks were. Searching the crowd, Hyuna finally spotted who she was looking for.

            “Hey, Nichkhun,” she tapped on his shoulder.

            Turning around, Nichkhun tore his eyes away from the fireworks. He then spotted Hyuna. “Oh, hi Hyuna. What’s up?”

            “Victoria seems a little sick. She isn’t feeling well,” Hyuna hinted. She waited for Nichkhun’s response. There was none. “So, I was wondering if you could check up on her, since, you know, she’s the queen, and you’re the king.”

            “Oh,” Nichkhun’s eyes grew wide with understanding. He reluctantly nodded his head. “Alright, I’ll go and keep her company.”

            Hyuna smiled. “Thanks.”

            She was watching Nichkhun leave when she heard someone say, “Trying to set them up, huh?”

            Hyuna turned her head and found Hyunseung sitting on the ground. He beckoned her to sit next to him, so she did. “Do you even have to ask?”

            Hyunseung laughed. “But if I was in that situation, I would like to let the force of nature do its work on its own.”

            Hyuna shook her head. “Have you seen the way they act around each other? Even if they feel the same way, they’ll never be able to tell each other their feelings!”

            “That’s true,” Hyunseung said as he looked up at the sky. “There’s no way their relationship will develop if nobody is pushing them.”

            Hyuna nodded. “That’s what I mean!”

                                    ::::::::::

            Nichkhun walked to his room and found Victoria lying on her bed, curled up in a ball. When he reached her, Nichkhun put his hand on her forehead. It was a little warm. The touch woke her up, and Victoria turned her head towards him. “Why aren’t you watching the fireworks?”

            “Hyuna told me to look after you, since, and this is a direct quote, ‘you’re the queen, and I’m the king.’”

            Smiling, Victoria said, “It’s not a direct quote. Unless she actually called you a queen and herself a king.”

            Nichkhun laughed, and Victoria closed her eyes again. After a few seconds, he said. “Maybe we’ll have to put you in those sick people carriages tomorrow. You’re starting to have a fever.”

            Victoria’s eyes flashed open, and she quickly sat up. “No! You don’t have to do that! I’m completely fine! I just had a long day today. It’s fine.”

            Nichkhun frowned. “Okay, but at least use the blanket tonight. It’s getting really cold these days, and I think the transition from hot to cold is making you sick.”

            She shook her head furiously. “I said it was fine, and that’s that. Stop worrying about me. It’s annoying.”

            Nichkhun’s nostrils flared. “You know, you should at least be grateful that I’m taking my time trying to worry about you, you know?”

            Victoria scoffed. “I hate it when people are worried about me.”

            Nichkhun slammed his hand on the coffee table. “Fine! Get sick and have a fever! See if I care!”

            Victoria observed him as he roughly took off his cloak and got into his bed. She took a deep breath and sighed. “Sorry about that.”

            There was silence. All she could hear was a rustling of blankets. Then, he said. “Why do you hate it so much?”

            “Hate what?”

            “When people worry about you?”

            “I don’t know. It just makes me feel like I need to depend on somebody to live. If somebody worries about me, and I let them worry, I’m not independent anymore.”

            It was Nichkhun’s turn to scoff. “Well, sorry to break it to you, but no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be independent. There are now thousands of people who worry about your safety.”

            “That’s part of the reason why I didn’t want to become queen. I’ll get pampered while practically a quarter of the population will die because of me.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Well, don’t people go to wars because they want to protect the royal family?”

            “I guess.”

            “And in every war, there will be people who die.”

            “Weren’t you jealous that I was able to go to war, and you weren’t? How come you are against it now?”

            “It’s because I can’t fight in it. I’d rather fight for something I want myself than have someone fight it for me.”

            There was a silence. Then Nichkhun started talking again. “Then how about Hyuna? You’ve known her for a long time. It’s natural for her to worry about you, and you aren’t mad when she is worried, right?”

            “I can’t do anything about that. We’ve known each other for too long. The only thing I can do is try to keep my troubles away from her radar.”

            “Then how about your parents? They’ll practically always be worried about you, no matter what. Are you always annoyed with them?”

            Nichkhun waited for her answer, but it didn’t come. “Victoria?”

            He finally heard her voice, but it was barely a whisper. “They died because of the fact that they were worried about me. They were worried about my future.”

            “Oh,” he knew he touched a sensitive subject. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

            “It’s okay. That was seven years ago, anyway.”

                                                ::::::::

            “I wonder how they’re doing,” Hyuna told Hyunseung.

            Hyunseung looked at Hyuna. “You know, if you check up on them now, it’s spying.”

            “You think I care?” Hyuna smiled at Hyunseung.

            He laughed. “I guess not, but wouldn’t you be mad if somebody was spying on you while you’re trying to get closer to your future husband?”

            Hyuna thought about it and pouted. “I would want to hit them on the head.”

            “Then don’t spy on them, and you won’t get hit on the head,” Hyunseung stated.

            Hyuna shook her head and smiled. “You know what, Hyunseung? You’re too nice for your own good.”

            He half-smiled. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m not as nice as I seem.”

            “Good,” Hyuna praised.

            It took Hyunseung a few seconds to process Hyuna’s reply. “Wait, what?”

            “It’s not good to be too nice,” Hyuna explained. “Don’t let people walk all over you, and fight for the things that you want.”

            “You probably wouldn’t tell Victoria that,” Hyunseung remarked.

            “Well, you’re different from Victoria,” Hyuna shrugged. “She has a tendency to speak her mind regardless of the consequences, and you have a tendency to hold things back.”

            “Speaking of Victoria’s tendencies,” Hyunseung quickly changed the subject. Or else he would have actually taken her advice and have spoken his mind. That wouldn’t do. “She really does have… radical opinions, doesn’t she?”

            “It’s what she believes in, and for the most part, what I believe in as well,” Hyuna commented. “It’s the ethical values that we inherited from the country that we both came from.”

            “What is that country like?” Hyunseung asked. “I mean, not in terms of the non-magic aspect. I hear enough of that from Victoria. But what was the political climate over there? Why did you guys leave?”

            “The political climate over there was much more liberal,” Hyuna replied. “But one thing about that country that I didn’t like was the way the people controlled nature.”

            “Controlling nature?” Hyunseung asked. “How?”

            “By using nature to form tools that increase the population’s health,” Hyuna answered. She looked over at Hyunseung and saw that he was puzzled. “Yes, increasing the population’s health is a good thing, but too much of a good thing is almost always bad. Our country cut down many forests and built cities in place of them. The amount of forests is dwindling, and the amount of fertile land has also been decreasing. Now, the country is mainly made up of rocks and coal.”

            “Rocks and coal, huh?” Hyunseung was trying to remember something. “It reminds me of those imported metal contraptions that are extremely lethal.”

            “You mean guns?”

            “Ah! That’s the name.”

            “That country produces many of those, and much much more.”

            Hyuna gestured to the land in front of her. “Even though Tawaran is conservative, and even though the whole country is basically made up of sand, one thing I am grateful about in this place is that nature is still respected and observed.

            “That’s why I trust in Victoria and am excited for her to become queen. I know that she will try and make the country more accepting and fair without sacrificing nature. If she forgets, I will remind her to keep the land’s natural beauty.”

            “You trust in her to find a nice middle ground, huh?” Hyunseung observed.

            Hyuna nodded. “That’s exactly it.”