Yoon Ha

Yoon Ha had waited for days for Joongi and Seojoon up on the hill where they promised to meet her, but none of them showed up. She was too scared to go back and too scared to left the hill. What if they come when I leave? She thought.

Yoon Ha sat on the soft grass, her arms wrapped around her tiny body trying to give her body some warmth. She looked like a mess, hadn’t eat for days, dirts all over her light blue hanbok, and her long hair all over her face.

The sun sets for the third time. Yoon Ha immediately turned her head over her shoulder when she heard a foot step coming from her back, “Joongi, Seoj-“

She froze.

There were no sign of Seojoon nor Joongi’s arrival, instead, she saw some bad guy walked towards her.

Yoon Ha quickly stood up, she took some steps backwards as those guys came forward, “W..What do you want? I don’t want have any money-“ Yoon Ha suttered, clenching the side of her hanbok. Fear crawled up inside her tummy, she felt like puking soon. There were about five of them, clearly, Yoon Ha was out numbered.

“No, no, sweetheart, we don’t want your money. We just want to help you,” One of them said, grinning disgustingly.

Yoon Ha shrieked in disgust when the tip of his fingers touched her chin, she turned her head to the side with her eyes shut, hoping it was just a dream and they will disappear the moment she open her eyes. Her heart cried calling for Seojoon and Joongi’s name, but still they were no where to be found.

“Don’t touch me!!”

The man stumbled backwards as Yoon Ha pushed him on the chest. Yoon Ha tried to run, but got blocked by the other man. She turned around, and soon realized she’d got surrounded. The tree was the witness of what those bad guys did to Yoon Ha.

Yoon Ha shouted for help while those filthy men started to touch her in a disgusting way. She tried to resist but got pinned down instead. Tears flowed out as she screamed, her voice cracked showing how desperate she was.

“Ssssh, sweetheart. We’re just trying to help you!” The leader of the gang leaned closer, trying to capture Yoon Ha’s lips with his. Yoon Ha swear she could smell alcohol from his mouth, she tilted her head to the side to avoid his lips but he would follow her movement.

“No! Help! Let me go! NO!!” Yoon Ha cried frustratedly when her skin got exposed, her hanbok got riped apart showing her milky skin especially her tummy part.

Luckily, before that gang could do anything further, an arrow flew and stabbed the back of the leader. He automatically cried in pain and rolled away from Yoon Ha’s body.

“WHAT THE HELL?! WHO DID THIS-“ he shouted furiously.

Through Yoon Ha’s puffy eyes, she saw two people sat on their horses, they were only few meters away from her. A beautiful lady and a man with his kind-looking face came out of nowhere. Judging by their looks, Yoon Ha knew they were a nobleman.

“Leave her alone,” Said the man while aiming his arrow to the bad guy’s direction, he was as calm as the wind blows. The gang was taken aback since they’ve got no weapons with them. They gave Yoon Ha one last glance before they ran away.

After they left, the kind man climbed off of his horse to help the beautiful woman. Meanwhile, Yoon Ha was hugging her trembling body, she’d never been so humilitated in all her life. She rubbed her palm against her skin, the spots where those guys touched them earlier for exact. Although they didn’t kiss, she still wiped her lips roughly with the back of her hand.

“Baek Ah, my hanbok,”  said the woman, she had a soothing yet a motherly voice. Baek Ah jogged to get a spare hanbok from a bag hung on the side of the horse then made his way back to the her.

“Lady Oh,” called Baek Ah, he hand the beautifully made shiny hanbok to Lady Oh. She then kneel down next to Yoon Ha and put her hanbok on her lap. Slowly and gently, she reached for Yoon Ha’s hand to give them a gentle squeeze. Yoon Ha felt the warmth from Lady Oh’s smooth skin crawling into her body, she nodded her head slowly but repeatedly to show her gratefulness.

“It’s okay, they’re gone now.” Lady Oh softly said, “Here, you should get change.”

Yoon Ha immediately refused, she knew that hanbok must be really expensive and cost a lot of money. “N-No, it’s okay-“ Yoon Ha tried to cover her exposed skin by wrapping her arms around her waist. She thought she had no rights to wear it.

“I’ll really appreciate it if you want to accept my kindness, young lady.” Lady Oh insisted.

Yoon Ha had her head hung low as Lady Oh helped her to put on the hanbok, “T-Thank.. you-“ She whispered, but still loud enough for Lady Oh to hear. Lady Oh fixed Yoon Ha’s hair, brushing some strands away from her face. “You’re a beautiful lady, what are you doing here? Alone?”

“I.. Was waiting for my friends. We promised to meet here but-“ Yoon Ha paused, “They didn’t come..”

“Did they go somewhere? Where are you from?” Baek Ah asked. He then followed the direction Yoon Ha was pointing at.

“Ah.. Goryeo?” Lady Oh, looking beautiful as always.

“I think I need to go back-“

“To Goryeo?” asked Baek Ah again, giving her a look of disapproval, “We just walk passed Goryeo and everything’s a huge mess in there.”

“A huge mess? What- what happened?” Yoon Ha felt her head spinning, her eyes went blur for a moment. Are you guys alright, Joongi, Seojoon? She thought and prayed at the same time.

“Heard that the King want to start a revolution to prevent Goryeo from losing any war in the future, we’re not sure though.” Baek Ah hummed, “We came to buy some stuffs but looks like we’ll go home empty handed.” He added.

Yoon Ha was going to ask another question when her body suddenly lost all of its energy, she knew her body was about to crashed against the ground when Baek Ah quickly reached his arms out to catch her.

“Hey, are you alright?!”

“She’s sick,” Lady Oh frowned with her palm on Yoon Ha’s forehead, “Let’s take her to our place for now, Baek Ah.”

The tall man nodded.

Lady Oh’s horse ran side by side with Baek Ah’s, they ride along the green forest in a fast yet steady pace. Yoon Ha sat on the same horse as Baek Ah, her body in between his arms and her head resting on his chest. Baek Ah’s left arm wrapped around Yoon Ha’s waist to make sure that she won’t fall while his other arm still holding the bridle.

I’m sorry I left the place where we promised to meet. Please be safe, you can’t die. At least not like this. 

Five days later, Yoon Ha was sitting on her room at Lady Oh's place. She played around with her fingers anxiously, waiting for Baek Ah to return. First day after she woke up, she pleaded Lady Oh to take her back to Goryeo. Lady Oh refused, seeing that Yoon Ha's still not in her best condition and it was too dangerous for a young and beautiful woman like Yoon Ha to travel alone.

At the end, Lady Oh asked Baek Ah to travel all the way back to Goryeo to check on Joongi and Seojoon. He had gone for a quiet long time and according to Yoon Ha's calculation, he should've been returned by that time.

"Baek Ah??" She called when she heard someone came in. It was Lady Oh. "Is he back yet?" she asked her.

Lady Oh nodded with a small smile, she then sat on the edge of Yoon Ha's bed followed by Yoon Ha herself, settling herself beside Lady Oh. "Did he find anything? Did he find my friends? Joongi? Seojoon?"

Yoon Ha's eyes rounded in hope and Lady Oh noticed that. She gently took Yoon Ha's hand in hers, it took a moment before Lady Oh finally opened and began to say something, "Yes, he found two men named Seojoon and Joongi." Yoon Ha's lips curled up into a wide and bright smile, her heart bloomed in joy. But then, that smile slowly faded as she noticed that Lady Oh's smile wasn't a happy smile, it was a bitter smile.

"He found two dead men, Joongi and Seoj-"

"N-No."

Lady Oh watched how Yoon Ha's lips started to tremble. Her bright eyes turned gloomy and she could see her tears flowed down to her rosy cheeks.

"No- they can't die- NO! NO!!"

Lady Oh left the room without any noises, she closed the door and leaned her back against it. She could hear Yoon Ha crying her lungs out inside her room. "Don't let her out, she need to rest." Lady Oh said to her two servants outside the room.

As Lady Oh made her way back to her room, she saw Baek Ah standing near the terrace. His face shows no emotion as he turned around and made his way to Lady Oh. She also gave him an empty gaze, as if she already knew what was he going to say.

"Why did you lie to her?" 

"This is for her own goodness, Baek Ah." Lady Oh wanted to get inside her room, but Baek Ah reached his right arm to block her way, "I went to Goryeo, I checked the whole town and I didn't find anyone named Joongi or Seojoon, alive or dead."

"Why did you lie to her, noonim? Don't you realize you just broke her only hope to find her beloved one?!" Baek Ah raised his voice in a disappointment, "This is for her own goodness, Baek Ah! You don't know what kind of person Wang Yo is! If I let her go back to Goryeo, she'd be dead!" Lady Oh answered in frustration.

"Wang Yo? He doesn't have anything to with this!" barked Baek Ah after he recgonized the familiar name. 

"YES, HE DOES." Lady Oh snapped at her younger brother, "You've heard about the King who wants to start a revolution?? That's him, that's Wang Yo! You've heard about him preparing an army? Yes, that's him, that's Wang Yo! He wants to take over every Kingdom in this country-" Baek Ah froze in his place, his lips was slightly parted in shocked, "He wants to take over this land as well, Baek Ah. He wants to destroy Baekje."

Baek Ah, still in shocked, he let out a bitter laugh, "But- That girl-" He pointed at the other direction where Yoon Ha's room is, "She doesn't have anything to do with this, noonim." pleaded Baek Ah, he felt sorry for Yoon Ha.

"I am just trying to protect her, Baek Ah. Don't you remember? She is me, I was her!" Lady Oh then leaned shifted her gaze to the other direction. There was a moment of silence between the two siblings. Baek Ah stood next to Lady Oh, his lips sealed.

"One day.. When the time has come, I'll help her to become a strong woman. Therefore, she could stand for her Kingdom, Goryeo." said Lady Oh all of sudden in a shaky voice, her brother stared at her with his confused look, "..And for us, Baekje." added Lady Oh one last time before she left and locked herself inside her room, reminiscing about her past that might has something to do with Wang Yo.

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