Chapter 7.

"In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."

Two days had passed since Jaehyun had left her bakery and he hadn’t come back since.

Utterly distracted, her mind was clouded with so many thoughts she felt like she was suffocating. She could barely function correctly at work, and she couldn’t count how many incorrect orders she’d taken or how many times she’d put in salt in her batter rather than sugar.

“Get your act together!” Her friend, Yuqi, said as she waved a hand in front of her face. “What’s up with you these days?”

Hanbyul snapped out of her daze and gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Yuqi was one of the few girls around her age in Seasons and they’d formed a fast friendship when Hanbyul had moved in several years ago. It was rare they were in Seasons at the same time, however, as Yuqi worked as a merchant, traveling all over the land.

She had recently returned from her last trip and was in town for a few days before she had to leave again so Hanbyul had taken a day off from work, closing her bakery to spend time with her. The two girls sat by the table near the window, catching up since Yuqi’s last visit to Seasons.

“Wait…” Yuqi stared hard at Hanbyul’s face before she let on a knowing smile.

“What?” Hanbyul asked defensively though she did a poor job at hiding her emotions.

“Who’s the guy?”

Hanbyul sputtered and nearly dropped her cup of coffee. “T-There’s no guy!”

Yuqi merely rolled her eyes. “Please, you wear your heart on your sleeve. You’ll have to get better at lying if you’re going to try.”

You’ll have to get better at lying to convince anyone of that.

The King’s words swirled back into her mind from the deep corner she’d shoved them in and she couldn’t hide the telling blush from Yuqi’s inquisitive stare.

“Remember I told you about my first love,” Hanbyul started with a sigh. She knew she was stubborn but Yuqi was another level of stubborn and she wouldn’t give up until she got answers.

Yuqi’s eyes widened and fell open. “Did he come to Seasons?!”

“Something like that,” Hanbyul muttered.

“And?” Yuqi pressed.

“And nothing. Nothing’s going to happen and that’s just the end of it.” Hanbyul didn’t know if she was trying to convince herself or Yuqi at this point but saying the words out loud seemed to solidify that he wasn’t coming back.

Yuqi remained silent before a beat before shaking her head. “Then why do you look so disappointed?”

Hanbyul cast her eyes downwards. “I—“

The jingle of her door opening snapped the girls’ attention to the front and Hanbyul was about to tell the incoming customer that her bakery was closed for the day when Lucas walked in.

“Is this a bad time?” Lucas asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he looked back and forth between Yuqi and Hanbyul. His eyes lingered on Yuqi’s for a beat longer before he said, “I didn’t know you had company.”

“Oh, um, Yuqi, this is Lucas, a royal guard in the King’s squadron” Hanbyul introduced, still surprised at Lucas’s appearance. She gestured towards Yuqi then and said, “Lucas, this is Yuqi, a travelling merchant from Seasons.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Lucas said first, offering Yuqi a smile and extending his hand.

Yuqi didn’t move for a beat before she reached out gingerly and slipped her hand in his. “Likewise.”

Lucas’s touch lingered a moment before he cleared his throat and retracted his hand. He turned back to Hanbyul, his smile dropping just the slightest. “I just came here to let you know of our departure tomorrow.”

Her eyes widened a fraction. “Tomorrow?” She repeated.

They had only been there for 3 days…

The regretful glint in Lucas’s eyes told her everything his words didn’t. “The King decided he’d been away from the palace for too long. Responsibilities piling up and such.” His voice was deliberately slow, holding her gaze as if searching for an answer she didn’t have.

‘Responsibilities,” she knew she sounded like a parrot but she couldn’t help herself.

“Chaeyeon’s taking care of things back at the palace. No rush to head back.” He had told her.

It was a sorry excuse and by the wince on Lucas’s face, he knew it as well.

Hanbyul said nothing following that and prayed Yuqi wouldn’t break the silence that festered between the three of them. In the end, it was Lucas who spoke first.

“Our original voyage planned to take us through Base 127.”

Surprise filled Hanbyul as she snapped her eyes to Lucas. “But that’s…”

“The opposite way of Seasons?” He said with a meaningful grin now. “Captain may be impulsive to a fault but he has never changed our route unless he has reason to.”

“Lucas—“ Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

“You were the only one who was able to snap him out of his depression all those years ago. You’re a good influence whether you know it or not,” he said gently. “Just an observation on my part, of course.”

To that, Hanbyul said nothing. Lucas nodded his head towards both girls before saying, “I should head back to help with preparations.”

“Goodbye, Lucas,” Hanbyul’s voice wavered and her smile was half-hearted at best.

He left with silence in his wake and Hanbyul’s crestfallen expression wasn’t lost on Yuqi, though she was still reeling from the fact that Hanbyul’s first love was the King of the Neo Kingdom.

“It’s nothing, huh?” Thr