"Jongin!" I screamed as the monsters began charging at him. Why was he so stubborn to fight, anyway? What was with him?

I struggled against my restraints but there was no use. I could only look on as Jongin slashed into the necks of giant, ill-coloured creatures.

Though I was supposed to be mad at him, I couldn't. I wanted to help him. Did that make me the enemy or was I still a good person for helping a friend?

I mentally scoffed at the word "friend". In desperate situations, even friends would kiss friends. Was I that horrible to kiss? I mean, this was a life or death situation and Jongin had chosen death.

I looked up at the stone statues beside me. A man, a woman, and a little girl. What did Jongin have to do with them?

"Hmm, you're strong. But you're going to be a traitor just like the rest of your family. You know we can't let any of you out, right?" The queen laughed and I looked over. The giants were lying on the ground in their own blood. Jongin stood to the side where he was panting heavily but still glaring up at the balcony.

His body was covered with blood and I suddenly felt nauseous. This scene was much worse than the death of ten men.

"You promised!" Jongin began. "You promised if I found your son a wife, you'd set my family free."

"We did," the queen nodded. "But you didn't find our son a wife."

Jongin took a step forward, as if he could fight the queen himself when she was all the way up there. "And then you said if I was strong enough—"

"I lied," snapped the queen. "Do you think I would let you and your family try and escape ever again? You should be thankful that we've let you live for another year. You are blessed with all this power and strength yet you stil—"

"Blessed!" Jongin looked furious. "All I've accomplished is put my family in danger. Then I kidnapped three princesses and had two of them hanged! Is this what you call blessed?"

My lips trembled in the midst of Jongin's anger. He looked to be in so much pain, much more than I could ever experience. I looked up at the statues again. If these people were his family...

"Aww look," the king cooed. "The poor princess is so frightened, it's cute. Maybe we should scare her some more."

The queen laughed coolly. "I know what'll scare her. Men," she ordered and two ogres with bats came out of the stone doors and approached Jongin.

He almost didn't have time to react as one swung an arm. The queen was right. I was more frightened. The adrenaline that had powered Jongin was gone and now he was staggering around, just trying to dodge the attacks.

"Actually, how about we really terrify the girl?" The king seemed so pleased with himself and his ideas. "One of you, on her."

Suddenly, I saw one of the giants turn towards me. I in a breath. It wasn't far from me and even with its slow steps, it wasn't going to be long before it reached me.

"No!" Jongin's voice rang out and echoed off the stones. It was so loud that it stopped the attackers for a second. "Attack me all you want, but leave her alone."

"But it's going to get boring if you just kill all our men." The king shrugged. "I could give you one last chance but..."

"Jongin," I couldn't believe I was going to say this. "What's so wrong with kissing me?" I yelled at him.

He stared back at me with an open mouth; so he couldn't believe I would say something like that either. The king chuckled with amusement but the queen rolled her eyes, obviously tired of us already.

I twisted around to get a better look at Jongin and suddenly felt the dagger that I had hidden in the back of my dress. Then I remembered that I had another one under my dress. Jongin had dug his weapons into the monsters and now he had nothing to protect himself. I needed to get these knives to him.

"Please, just kiss me. I don't want you to fight anymore," I pleaded.

The king belted out a laugh. "Listen to the girl. Be a good shapeshifter and do what she says."

"They're not asking for just a kiss, Eun Kyo." He stared at the ground, letting his guard down. The ogres waited for their queen's order but she stayed quiet, letting her husband have his fun. "They want a show."

I needed him to look at me. "I'll do whatever they want me to do. Just stop fighting." Jongin, please look up.

"You don't understand." He shoved a hand into his hair, smearing blood into it. "They want to see the both of us in pain and I'd rather kill myself than inflict pain on you."

I almost could speak. Jongin couldn’t be a bad guy. He couldn’t. "But you won't."

"Eun Kyo!" He finally looked up. "That's not—"

I closed one eye, pretending to brace myself from Jongin's yelling but hoping, at the same time, that Jongin knew what I wanted. At last, he stopped and just stared at me.

I have knives!

I wondered if he got the message or if he was just lost but then his face got angrier.

"You know what, I think I'll just show you to make you understand."

For a second, I thought I saw the old king approaching me but then it changed back to Jongin. That must have been the glamour at work.

"Move aside, guards! I want to see this!" The king shooed away the ogres so they stood at the side. "Finally!" He rejoiced as Jongin's lips met mine.

It was such a harsh kiss as he cupped my face with his bloody palms. I wanted to reach up and hold him as well but I had to keep my mind focused.

The kiss was hard but sweet and, for a second, I forgot where I was.

One's on the back of my dress.

Though I tried to tell him as best as I could, I concentrated most of my attention on returning the kiss.

Suddenly, he broke away and I was left gasping for air but he continued his kisses down my jaw. I nearly screamed when I saw that it wasn't Jongin on top of me but the old king.

"They want a show," he whispered into my ear as his hands trailed down my side. "Fight me."

I twisted my body to the right as he tickled my neck. He had remembered the spot that made me react before. Though he looked like the old king, it was definitely Jongin's lips and hands on me. I squeezed my eyes shut and put all my attention to the contact.

He climbed onto the bench to straddle me and I struggled even more. I heard the king shout in delight but there was only deadly silence from the queen. It was obvious she wasn't pleased with the show.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed as one of Jongin's hands cupped my . "I said a kiss!"

Jongin froze and rose up to stare at me for a second in disbelief. "But..." he uttered and I noticed that I saw him as Jongin again.

"I said a kiss and only a kiss." I closed an eye, pretending to be cowering against the bench. It was hard to get my words out. Jongin's hand was still on me and I had to be careful not to shift too much.

He smirked, fortunately understanding that I was just putting on a show. "Too bad, princess." His lips pressed into mine again but he was gentler this time.

One hand traveled to my back and I jerked to the side to allow him to grab it but it was still stuck. Then I tried arching my back. I pressed my body up against his but it was hard with my hands and feet tied up.

Jongin reached underneath me, wrenching out the dagger with such force that I would have cried out in shock if he hadn't kept me silent. Without alerting anybody, he cut away at the leather straps at my wrists.

I was gasping for breath when he relinquished me. I didn't even have enough energy to act like I didn't like it. I just laid there, watching him stare back at me. He was panting equally as much but he had the stealth to pocket the knife without taking his eyes off of me.

There's another one strapped to my leg.

Jongin gave the slightest of nods before lifting my skirt just a bit.

The king clapped his hands and Jongin gave a deadly laugh. "Is this what you've been waiting for, old man?"

"Yes, yes. yes!" The king shouted in excitement.

Jongin didn't wait for any other response before climbing in under the skirt and between my legs.

I stiffened by instinct. No man had ever seen my legs before, and now this man had his head between them. I stayed still as I tracked Jongin's progress.

Left leg.

I felt him grasp the handle of the dagger and I expected him to pull it out but instead I felt his fingers brush my inner thighs.

"Huh?" I jumped and realized I had been way too still for somebody who was supposed to be struggling against a man's touches. He pinched, hard. "Ow!" I let out out a yelp and automatically tried to move away.

The king guffawed but I was barely listening.

Jongin pinched me again and my body jerked away on its own. I noticed that my ankles were no longer strapped to the bench.

I was free.

But I didn't dare move just yet.

Suddenly the warmth of Jongin's body left me and I saw something fly through the air. Next thing I knew, the king's blood was gushing down from the balcony. His neck had been pierced and all I could see was the colour red sputtering out and painting the ground. I screamed.

"Good show, milady?" I watched Jongin's grin as he stood on the ground with a knife ready in his hand.

"Bastard!" The queen, who had been silently brooding by herself, was now red with rage. "Guards, get him!" She snapped her fingers and I saw the stone statues shatter before my eyes.

Jongin barely noticed as he turned around and grabbed my shoulders. "Run through any of the doors and down the steps. The exit will be right in front of you."

I put my hands over his as he cupped my face. I could see the monsters approaching us. "But what about—"

"These guys are programmed to only attack me right now. You'll be safe. Just run. Prince Wu will be out there, waiting." He ripped the silver ring off of his finger and put it on mine. "Take this, too."

I shook my head and choked on a sob. Tears were running down my face as frantically as Jongin looked. "Jongin, no—"

He pulled me close and pressed his lips into mine. Though it didn't last long, it still left me dizzy as he pulled away. "I-I love you, Han Eun Kyo, and I really really hope you'll forgive me for all I've done."

The monsters were closer now. I got off the bench and pulled Jongin with me. "I'm not leaving without you."

Jongin stayed in place and I realized we were standing in a pile of ground stone. "I'll wait in here and fight them off. Go get Prince Wu and he'll help get me out of here."

I hesitantly dropped his hand. Jongin had given me a task and I needed to do it as best as I could. This was my way of repaying him. I needed to give him a chance at a new life just as he had given me.

"I love you, Jongin," I whispered as I kissed him one last time before running for my life through one of the doors before they closed.

He was right; the monsters didn't attack me.

That means everything else he said must've been right...

Right?

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