“I asked you why did the queen make such a request ?” yoon shouted at the maid seeing her not reply to his question, with his increased anger his voice also increased which caught hye ryeong’s attention she steeped closer to the door to listen and that is when yoon has lost it
“if you are not going to say you know what is going to happen with you” he threatened, for the first time in life he was this fuming and also a first time he is threatening someone. Hye ryeong was alarmed, it meant he heard their conversation, what should she do now ?
“sunbae”  hye ryeong immediately stepped outside the room. Yoon saw her, fear was clearly written over her face, why is she fearing ? what for ?
“hye ryeong, I need to talk to you” saying that yoon stormed off into their room, hye ryeong couldn’t dare to go in, what am I going to say now, hye ryeong thought, she didn’t even fear this much while lying and getting gwi’s blood, she can already sense her legs shake a little in tension  and she heard again
“I asked you to come in hye ryeong” yoon he didn’t call her hye ryeong ah, like he did these days which clearly demonstrated how angry he was and she cannot even think of anything else

“hye ryeong ?” sung yeol who came hearing the news of yoon’s arrival saw from the end of the hall that she was standing outside her door, standing with tension on her face and her stare fixed at something opposite to her on other side of the door,  a maid who was standing beside her with her head held low, what happened ? sung yeol worried,what is she doing standing like that ? he thought. He stopped to see what is she going to do, there was a little movement in hye ryeong, she signaled her maid to leave, and the maid is now coming towards him, sung yeol stopped her and asked
“what is the queen so worried about ?” hye ryeong’s maid paused at his words and recognized him to be the night scholar, who is going to sacrifice his life along with her miss, so she decided to tell him the truth
“sir, majesty has heard the queen asking me to take care of her mother”
“what ?”
“agasshi, has asked me to take care of her mother after her and ” hye ryeong’s maid couldn’t say more but she said enough for sung yeol to understand and he walked towards
“I am waiting for an answer hye ryeong ?”yoon was angry, why and what is she hiding from him and not just that question, her tension and her expression with her head low is surely telling him something is wrong but she wont open up
“sunbae, don’t worry about that, my mother,” hye ryeong thought of telling some excuse, a most suitable one “ my mother” she started thinking for appropriate words
“majesty, queen is sending her mother away for treatment” sung yeol said as he quickly thought of an answer
“then why is worried to say me that. ? I think there is more to it” yoon said still suspicious
“no majesty, she doesn’t want to trouble you, she doesn’t want to give you any stress that is why” saying that sung yeol got another idea “soo hyang suggested to the queen about a doctor who lives on the island, and the queen was not sure to send her mother away” sung yeol looked at hye ryeong and signaled her to get along with him as he said again “ but I guess she finally decided to send her for treatment”
“yes sunbae, I am sending my mother with the maid that is why I asked her to take care of my mother” hye ryeong explained as she caught on with sung yeol.
“is that all ?” yoon asked her again, because he is having a gut feeling that it may not be true completely, but also why is kim sung yeol siding with her ?
“yes sunbae, I don’t want to be far away from her but if she is going to be healthy and in good hands I want to try that”hye ryeong explained, healthy may not be true for her mother, but she will definitely be in good care, her maid is loyal to her and it is for the good of her mother too. 
yoon was still not pleased with her answer, his heart is telling him there is more than this, seeing the atmosphere sung yeol thought it is best for him to change the topic
“majesty, what happened with the work you went for ? did you find a suitable place ?”
“I think I have found it” yoon said
“really ? then it is not far from when our kingdom will be free from gwi” hye ryeong said as she was happy to hear that, something she can be happy for
“I guess we can start on the next part of the plan then, luring gwi there” sung yeol said only till there, he knew the next words need not be said to yoon and hye ryeong can already hear his next words without speaking out loud. Yoon nodded to sung yeol and decided to go for a bath after the tiring journey he had, saying that to hye ryeong he left the room. He still couldn’t take in what happened, and why is hye ryeong saying that, on the way out he called one of his men and said
“where is the queen’s mother ? and is she going to go out to any island ? get information on that by tomorrow” it is the first time he doesn’t want to belive hye ryeong, even when she came with sung yeol’s black robe, he believed her because he saw honesty in her then. But this time there is a fear in her eyes and it is definitely telling him that she is hiding something, does gwi has anything to do with this ? but if it does, sung yeol wouldn’t be supporting hye ryeong, does this mean anything more ? or gwi is blackmailing hye ryeong on killing her mother and soo hyang helped her ? or anything else ? he needs hands on that information.

“thank you” hye ryeong sighed in relief and said to sung yeol as yoon left the room.
“you should have been careful when you speak”
“I didn’t think he would be here when I speak”
“but he is and he also found the place” sung yeol stressed on the last two words, this means his time and also her time can be counted as almost over now, 
“when are we going with the next part ?”
“I don’t know for sure, may be tomorrow night or the next day ? but for starting we can use yang sun’s blood for luring him out and then make him come there”
“can you do that all by yourself ?” hye ryeong asked a little worried for sung yeol
“I can”
“so when will you consume yang sun’s blood ?”
“after getting there, I may not be able to control myself if I do that before, I think it will be best if you and yang sun go there before hand and wait for my and gwi’s arrival” sung yeol explained as hye ryeong nodded. After talking with hye ryeong he put a word for yoon that he will be waiting in the conference room and asked him to come there, after a little wait yoon has arrived, and like he discussed with hye ryeong, he explained the plan to yoon, yoon also suggested that he will be there hiding with some guards just in case if needed at some distance and sung yeol accepted since it might be of help. As they framed their plan sung yeol left the palace while yoon returned to his room.
“what ”

both yoon and hye ryeong didn't converse for a while after his arrival. hye ryeong was at loss of words, worrying if she spoke any and the topic goes to her mother, she may not hide the fact well. it was fine before dinner as they were not facing one another, but as dinner arrived and they were sitting face to face,her fears were taking in higher than before, yoon decided to speak, he wanted her to be the one he hears the truth from ,so he decided to make a try again.
“did you really not hide anything from me hye ryeong ?” yoon asked hye ryeong as they were eating dinner, though he already set men to know the truth he wanted it to be her to tell him things, he wanted her to share every little detail of her life with him,
“sunbae I really don’t want to get separated from my mother, but if anything good is bound to happen I will surely do it” hye ryeong said, but the two sentences didn’t connect to one another, the first about her mother she really mean it, she fears if she will be fine or not but yoon is also someone she can’t live without, the second sentence was about him, if good is going to happen to him she will do anything that will make that happen.
what she told seemed correct for him but still for a reply, yoon has no words, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he said
 “I hope you won’t hide anything from me in future and tell me every thought that crosses your mind hye ryeong ah” he meant it, rather than silently hoping for things to happen like he did with yang sun, he doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake twice, and not when he knew how badly he missed her throughout his journey. 
“what sunbae ?” hye ryeong expected a little scolding’s like she should have told him before hand on sending her mother for treatment but this, it is definitely not what she expected,  yoon was still fighting his thoughts while unable to bear his silence she asked again
“sunbae, please tell me”
‘I didn’t want to tell you like this’ yoon thought but then it is high time he already tell too,
“choi hye ryeong”
“no, lee hye ryeong” yoon corrected himself as he shook his head and continued saying
“I want to share every little detail about my life with you and so do I expect you to do the same” hye ryeong could only look intensely at him making her think, does this mean what sung yeol said was true ? does oppa really like me ? giving a confirmation to her confusion yoon told again
“I have feelings for you hye ryeong ah, strong feelings, you are very important person to me and there should be no secrets between us, will you promise me that you will not keep any secret from me ?” he finished as he extended his hand asking her to make him a promise. Oppa really likes me. She was beyond happy to hear that, her smile was growing wider every second making yoon smile too seeing that, but at that point some thought crossed her mind, hye ryeong, it is not meant to happen, you will die tomorrow. And the smile slowly turned into a frown. Laughing at the fate she has inwardly, she thought, she can’t answer him that but the promise also she can’t make, she is already hiding something big from yoon
“I promise I will be honest with you oppa” she knew what she meant by saying that hye ryeong left the table leaving her lunch behind.

“why can’t you give me a proper answer lee hye ryeong ”
“don’t you know how difficult it was to confess like this without preparing beforehand”
“and you left me hanging without a clear reply”
“I hate you for doing this” yoon said to himself, as hye ryeong left the room closing the door behind her angry and irritated that she didn’t reply him after he confessed, but he also know he wasn’t angry at her, he just want a reply, thinking about the possibilities he spoke again
“aren’t you doing this because you know I love you ? are you teasing me now ? Don’t you know I am the king of this kingdom ?” hye ryeong could hear the feeling behind his words, his love, how can he tell me things now making it difficult for her to leave his side, she stood there crying, but this also means the more reason for her to do this, she should never back out from this plan, ever, in any circumstances this plan should work out well. Determined she left there to take a walk, it’s almost midnight and she didn’t return back thinking yoon might be awake, so he was until a while back waiting for her to come but tiredness from the journey played big on him and he fell asleep without knowing himself. Half past midnight hye ryeong came back to their room and saw him asleep. While she was outside she already decided her reply to him, she took out the drawing she made earlier she thought of gifting yoon with, she though she will never have to confess because she never had hope but it was wrong now, and she has to reply to him. she took out a scroll and ink to write him a letter.

“where is the queen ?” yoon asked one of the maids as he saw that hye ryeong was not there in the room,
“majesty, the queen has left early today, she said she will meet you soon” how can she leave out today ? on a big day when the country is fighting its battle against gwi ? yoon thought, yes it was the day, they already planned to lure gwi out tonight with help of yang sun’s blood and end it all, it’s a do or die situation everyone is in now. Thinking yoon took a seat in his desk after he ordered his guards to arrange for everything tonight.
there on his table there were two scrolls, or one scroll and another paper to be precise, he opened the drawing and saw, a cliff, and two people sitting on a rock under a tree, this resembelled something, his mind searched for answers and the drawing his little friend gave him years ago came into his mind, the same drawing, but who could draw it ? hye ryeong ? how can hye ryeong be that girl ?  he opened the scroll and began reading
 oppa,
remember me ? the little girl who irritated you into telling you problems a night on the cliff years ago ?
it is the same me who drew this drawing,
it’s me hye ryeong,
and you were my lee oppa I couldn’t identify until a few days ago,
but oppa, I thought you didn’t remember me or that place , but you remembered. Hye ryeong put out her happiness that she couldn’t show that day, this part of the letter she was all smiling cause she is the little girl and he is a little boy with no complicated life they have now.
“You are her hye ryeong ah ? is that why you related to that place well that day ?” yoon said happy for his new found fact that hye ryeong was his friend, the only friend who stuck with him after he lost everyone. Smiling he continued with the letter
but sunbae,
I have a reply for you, I am actually in love with you from a long time, but I am not rightful for that position, I think it is out of the pity you had for me, nothing more. Hye ryeong knew she was being hard, but she can’t accept him and leave him with more pain when she dies, pain of rejection could be a lot better she thought and also that she will be leaving, she need to reveal that.
pity ? you think all I feel for you is just pity ? didn’t you see anything more than that in my eyes ? yoon questioned as he was feeling hurt at her words
and I think you should belong with yang sun, she is going to need you more, when kim sung yeol leaves, she will get all alone, please be with her, don’t come to me after the war arasso ? I am planning to leave to the island after this war and take care of my mother too, I thought for a while and think it is best if I not only send my maid but I myself go, so please don’t look for me again. And take care of yourself and yang sun, she is someone you know more than me, I think she will understand your heart soon. I will see you at that place
wait does she think that I belong with yang sun and not her ?  is she why wanted to leave along with her mother ? and that seemed so true to him, because her earlier words showed that she clearly reciprocated those feelings back.
“pabo, I don’t like yang sun anymore, if you are doing this just by thinking that I like her, you are wrong hye ryeong, you are so wrong and I will prove that to you, I will prove that to you that I love you more than I could ever have liked anyone else” yoon said determined because he meant everything he did, there was a lot of difference between yang sun and hye ryeong, he surely felt bad for yang sun not liking him back, but hye ryeong, he can’t bear thefact that she will be gone, that is why he decided to move in with her, his every action made earlier in name of responsibility made sense to him now, because he found his answer, his love for hye ryeong.

so how was it ?
i know i made delay in updating, but i was unsure if the story is turning out well or not
so i thought more and made a little changes to what i previously had in mind.
even though i made changes, i still feel a little unsure about it, but i have clarity on what next chapter is going to be about ?
how was it ?
is it fine ?
or did i disappoint you ?
 
will be waiting for your comments.
thank you