Hyukjae wasn't sure on how long he had out...he knew extremely well that he had died. With that gaping hole in his heart and that excessive bleeding...if he didn't die, then he must be a God! As far as he was concerned, as an experienced shooter himself, he had caused many deaths by this similar method.

When he regained his consciousness, he realised that he was in a dream. It was an extremely realistic dream. The dream was too vivid and surreal, as if he was really experiencing everything...as if he lived that life. Despite such vividness, he knew it was a dream. Don't ask him. He just knew. And just like any other dreams, he couldn't control his movement or speech, or even to have his own thoughts. Thus, he could only watch as his body (in the dream) moved and talked on its own.

In the dream, he was a prince.

He was called Prince Eun Hyuk, the 5th prince of Eun State, and the king's youngest child, who was sent to Dong State as a hostage prince for their peace treaty. As the weaker State of the two, the king of Eun State sent his most beloved prince as a show of loyalty. Thus, Prince Eun Hyuk, who had lost his mother during his birth, had to move to Dong State at the age of 7 years old. He had lived this hostage life for 10 years and is now 17 years old. He was growing up in a palace  in Dong State which was especially built for him.

The State of Eun was known for their jewelleries and fashions, and their citizen were known for their exquisite look. "The people there are ethereal as if they come out of painting" - this was what other States described them as. But out of all these people, Prince Eun Hyuk was unofficially crowned as the most beautiful in all States when he was only 7 years old.  With his distinct long white hair, light black straight eyebrows, russet-coloured eyes adorned by thick long black eyelashes, red plum lips and fair skin...even at the age of 7, this appearance looked better than any painting of immortals. Despite being a 7 years old kid, the prince was well aware of his own beauty.

Despite living in a palace surrounded by high walls, the king of Dong State did not restrict his freedom to leave his palace - he was free to roam around outside the palace to visit other palaces or to visit the capital, of course with the accompanies of skilled guards. In fact, the king and everyone else in the palace didn't pay much attention to this hostaged prince.

The materials and living standard he received was indeed up to his Princely status. Nonetheless, despite all these grand and fancy materials, he was still a hostage - he believed that hostage status was lower than servants. Thus, to carry a  label as "hostage", his princely pride couldn't accept it no matter how good his life was.

Therefore... Prince Eun Hyuk, who was unwilling to be sent as a hostage in the first place, grew up to be an overbearing prince with a violent temper. The unfortunate victims of his temper were the maidservants and eunuchs who were assigned to his palace, and also included  anything or anyone he could reach. 

This temper was what this prince notoriously known for amongst the public. Thus the name Prince Eun Hyuk was always attached with the keywords "flower-vase" and "good-for-nothing". Due to his violent tendencies, he often received house arrest as punishment from the king, and his servants were changing frequently due to his tortures. These punishments in turn, made his temper worsen.

On his 17th birthday, an entourage from Eun State came to send birthday gifts to Prince Eun Hyuk's palace. In fact, it was not an abnormal sight since the king of Eun sent gifts every year, on the day of Prince Eun Hyuk's birthday.

But this time, it was different.

At midnight, these so-called entourage dressed up in all black getaway, silently made their way out of the prince's bedchamber with the prince in tow, also clad in black hooded robes. These people were there to bring the prince escaped. Their journey getting out of the palace was going smoothly, showing that these people were skillful and well-prepared...that was until they almost reached the border of the palace through the forest. They were intercepted by the palace guards who have finally caught up to their location.

At one point, they were running, and next, everything turned messy and chaotic. The sound of fighting, sword clacking, and hurried footsteps becoming one. With the moonlight as the only source of light, everything becomes confusing and blurry. It was supposed to be a dream, but Hyukjae could clearly felt the thumping of his heart, the trembling of his body as he was surrounded by this event full of blood and terror. He even felt the wetness of blood that fell on his exposed face.

Even as a mercenary who had experienced fighting using knife and gun, this sight was still too bloody and gore. Everyone was literally chopping each other as if they were chopping tofu. He wasn't even sure this fear in his heart was coming from himself or from the prince. Could the fear in a dream feel this real?

Fortunately for Hyukjae, the fight soon stopped with the palace guards getting the upper hand and defeating the men-in-black around Prince Eun Hyuk. It was finally silent, much to Hyukjae's delight...this event was too chaotic for his liking!

"Watch out!"

"Your Royal Highness!"

Everything suddenly sounded distant and the light dimmed as Hyukjae felt a familiar excruciating pain on his chest. He looked down to see an arrow embedded into his chest...at the same position where the bullet made a hole through his chest. Ah !! Hyukjae cursed as he slowly lost his consciousness yet again. Even in death, he still could feel pain, how terrible!

In that verge of darkness, Hyukjae caught several voices, sounded distant yet near, calling out "Your Royal Highness" and other incoherent words of "heart", "stop" and "died".

The second time Hyukjae regained his consciousness, Hyukjae was feeling groggy and disoriented. There was an unfamiliar fragrant scent clinging to his nose. He blinked and opened his eyes slowly, trying to decipher whether it was another dream or he was finally in the afterlife. What greeted his vision was an ancient-style wooden bed frame with gold-colored light gauze drapery. His left side was the wall and the bed frame. Turning his head to the right, he was greeted by the view of an ancient-style room. A wooden screen with painting of mountain and garden obstruct his view to the whole room.

"..." Silently, he turned his head back to its original place. These experiences after death was definitely not what he ever expected. He thought... after death, he should be just that, dead, gone, no consciousness? Or that afterlife thing was actually real? But he wasn't a believer and he wasn't a good guy either. Why would he end up in the afterlife where the bed was in ancient-style and huge that it could fit 4 adult men, and covered by soft, smooth, and silky bed sheets and maroon-coloured bedding quilt? In addition, this quilt smells like fresh rose....and this ancient-style bed was inside an ancient-style room!

These views of the bed and the room were scarily familiar. 

It was exactly the one he saw in his dream. If the dream was only watching, this time, Hyukjae could feel the sensation of the silk. Much to his own surprise, he could control his body and thoughts. Definitely did not feel like a dream. As a man who trained himself to be perceptive (when it came to danger) and believed in his own judgement, he can confirm that he was fully awake.

Hyukjae sat up, looking down at his body and got the surprise of his life when long silky hair fell on his face. Hyukjae pulled the hair in reflexes.

"Ouch!" came a soft hoarse voice. Hyukjae didn't think much of his voice as he felt his throat parched from not being used for a while, and also, he got more worrisome things awaiting his exploration. The pain on his scalp had proved that this hair was real.

He was wearing thin white silky robe which was loosely fastened by a thin belt. The long smooth white hair draped over his shoulders and fell on the sides of his face. Hyukjae raised his hands to swipe the hair off his face but he stopped midway as he caught the appearance of the pair of too-fair slender hands. The nails were pinkish and neatly trimmed, giving the fingers a rounded shape at the end. It was smooth...very smooth. As if the owner of the hands never do anything...literally never do anything! 

Hyukjae moved his fingers, bent them into a fist then opened, then bent then straightened...he did it several times. 

Next, Hyukjae moved his hands to his chest. He opened the loose robes slightly. There was a pink coloured scabbing wound on the chest where the heart was located. This location was the exact place he got shot to death by a gun, and coincidently, prince Eun Hyuk in his dream was shot by arrow in this exact place as well. 

This was definitely not his body. This wound was not a gun wound, this was an arrow wound. It was too inconceivable to imagine a gaping hole in the heart could be saved! He rather believed he was reborn than believing his heart survived, okay! Technology hasn't reached that point where they can revive a dead body. 

Hyukjae secured the thin robe back to its original place...only to be speechless to find that he wasn't wearing anything underneath. "..." Even as a modern man, he still preferred wearing a full set of clothes to sleep. He tightened the belt of the robe, making sure his whole body was fully covered.

He then proceeded to open the golden drapes and got out of the bed. Walking around the wooden screen, he finally saw the whole view of the room. There were ancient style furniture and decorations made of wood, steel and jade filled the space. This was definitely the prince Eun Hyuk's bedchamber that he saw in the dream. No doubt about that.

Hyukjae walked around the spacious room. It felt familiar yet foreign at the same time. The room was complete with a study table and chair on the right side, a dressing table filled with all kind of jewelleries (made of gold, silver, gems and jade) on the right side of the bed, a soft chaise lounge with soft bedding located in front of the window which was on the left part of the room and it was completed by a square coffee table on the side, a shelf full of vases and other delicate decorations was located on the wall near the chaise lounge, and there was also a set of rectangle wooden table and a chair on each side placed in front of the wooden screen.

After touching everything, Hyukjae walked toward the body-length mirror. Standing in front of the mirror, Hyukjae stared at the face on the reflection with wide eyes and gaping mouth. To say that he wasn't caught off guard was a huge fat lie. He was literally startled out of his wits to finally see the face of this body. His mind turned blank in an instant. 

Long straight white hair reaches the round-looking , light black straight eyebrows, long monolid eyes framed with black lashes emphasising the russet colour of the iris, small button nose, naturally red plum lips, sharp jaw line, and a fair skin as white and smooth as white jade.

The robe was made of silk hence it clung to the body, showing the full shape of the body. The body was slender, thin but fleshy (especially meaty on the right places), skinny but not bony, and a slim waist that emphasised the upturned round and the narrow shoulders which created a natural curve and gave out a sensual vibe to his overall look.

No matter which angles he looked at, this was his face. Albeit with different hair and different eye colours, with a more delicate and tender version of body. 

(2082 words)

I'm supposed to update my other story, but this plot just won't leave my head...and messing with the plot of my other story T-T