"Yifan! Don't leave me!"

With a sharp inhale, Yifan snapped open his eyes, a bead of sweat running down his pale temple. It was the same old nightmare that always haunted Yifan. One he simply couldn't get away from because of the mening behind it. There were rarely nights where the crown prince could sleep in peace. He would always end up the same way, abruptly woken up from his sleep, panting with sweat soaked clothes. Realizing it was nothing but a dream, Yifan grew frustrated. He hated how the dreams would affect him, leaving him feeling powerless and weak. Wiping off the beads of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, the prince got up and out of his bed, for he knew that sleep would not come easy this night.

"It's been seven years.." He thought with a sigh as he walked out to the balcony to get some fresh air. The air in the bedroom was starting to feel suffocating with the heat from the fireplace that burned in the corner of the room. The robe around his shoulders dragged along with him on the wooden floor, as he walked to the railing of the balcony, the cold wind blowing gently through his dark hair.

"It's been seven years.. I can barely remember her face and yet I dream of her nearly every night." Yifan let out another long sigh, feeling his heart weigh heavy in his chest. The face of the girl he once loved with all of his heart, grew more blurry with each dream that came. He closed his eyes and made an attempt to remember her facial features, but cursed in frustration when he couldn't make out a single one. All he remembers is her long black hair, which he used to try to braid but would fail horribly. All that he ended up doing was tying knots in the poor girl's hair, but never once was she upset with him when she saw the state of her hair that Yifan had left her with. All she did was to smile her toothy smile and wrap her short arms around him, thanking him for making her prettier. That would always make his heart race and his cheeks burn with shyness.

"Haneul..." He whispered into the cold night, his heart clenching at the thought of his first love. "In the end, I couldn't protect you, just like I promised to do.." They were eight when he made that promise to her. Yifan was learning to ride a horse, like any other boy in his age was doing. But in the middle of the lesson Haneul had walked out to the practice range, looking for her friend. "Yifannie!" She called out excitedly as she stopped by the fence, her eyes sparkling with curiosity at the huge animals. At the sight of the black haired girl, Yifan's posture on the horse straighten, proudly showing off that he managed riding such animal. With a gentle kick to the horse's side, Yifan