“I’m glad you’re okay”

I gave a small smile and bowed politely to my master.

“I apologize for causing trouble, I hope my illness didn’t hinder you”

Yesung smiled warmly and shook his head, indicating that everything was fine.  I nodded and went to prepare his tea.  As I set the kettle on to boil I asked,

“Are you preparing for the upcoming tournament?”  Yesung turned to face me and shook his head, 

“No, I honestly don’t feel the need to.  It’s not like there’s anyone who could really challenge me anyway”

I’m not sure why, but for some reason I was slightly annoyed at his arrogance.  It’s not like his reaction was especially surprising, but for some reason it made me bristle.

However, in keeping with my position I easily hid my irritation with a sweet smile.  My master seemed encouraged by my reaction and continued to boast,

“I am the best around, I suppose I will show the people of this kingdom what a real archer can do”

My lips tightened into a thin line as I did my best to suppress my irritation.  I didn’t understand my conflicting emotions, they seemed hypocritical even to myself.  While I could tolerate Kyuhyun’s egotism easily, Yesung’s sense of superiority made anger rise in my chest.

I suppose it was childish of me, but I couldn’t help but smile and muse innocently,

“I don’t know master, I heard the Head General’s son is pretty good”  Yesung’s face contorted into something akin to anger and he replied in clipped tones,

“Oh really?”   I watched out of the corner of my eyes as he hastily stood and started to pace agitatedly. 

The kettle whistled and I poured the hot water over some tea leaves.  By the time I turned to serve him his tea, Yesung was sitting back down, but his forehead was creased and he looked tense.  I wordlessly handed him his ivory tea cup before going to turn down his bed.

In a few minutes he finished his drink and I helped him into his bed.  Once he was situated I bowed deeply and turned to leave.  I was halfway out the door when my master called out,

“Reserve the archery range tomorrow… I-I don’t want to be rusty…”

I smiled faintly and nodded before leaving the room.

**********

I accompanied my master to the next day’s meeting.  I walked behind him, keeping my head bowed as we entered the meeting room.  I was just about to enter the room when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side.

“You left”

I raised my eyebrow and studied Kyuhyun curiously,

“Uh, yeah.  Is that a problem?”  His eyes narrowed and he complained,

“Yes it’s a problem!  Now I freakin’ have to be here!”  I rolled my eyes and chided sarcastically,

“You poor, poor thing”  He glared at me, before asking suspiciously,

“By the way, I heard your master reserved the archery field today, it that true?”

 I shrugged, not feeling the need to answer his question.  Kyuhyun frowned at me and was about to say something snarky when Yesung walked into the hall, obviously looking for me.  His eyes narrowed when he saw Kyuhyun and he quickly walked to my side.

“Is he bothering you?” he asked me, venom dripping from his voice.  I bowed politely and shook my head.  My master nodded to me, but he appraised Kyuhyun critically.

“Leave Wookie alone!” he ordered Kyuhyun, his eyes flashing threateningly. 

I frowned at the fact that I was being protected like a woman, but I quickly hid my displeasure, not wanting to offend my master.

Kyuhyun glared right back at Yesung and he snarled,

“Last time I checked, no one made you God.  You may be the prince back home, but you have no authority over me here”

Yesung’s eyes widened with shock before they hardened into a murderous glare.  I rolled my eyes at Kyuhyun’s audacity, he really was too hot tempered.  I peeked inside the meeting room and saw the others begin to assemble.  I tugged on Yesung’s sleeve and warned,

“Master, they’re going to start, you can’t keep them waiting”

Yesung sighed heavily, but nodded.  He cast another threatening look at Kyuhyun before turning back towards the door.  I followed after him, shooting Kyuhyun a warning look.  The latter simply rolled his eyes before calling out,

“It doesn’t really matter how much you practice, I’ll beat you easily either way”

My master continued to walk, but he answered without turning around,

“We’ll just see about that now, won’t we?”

**********

Kyuhyun never joined the meeting.  I wasn’t really surprised and I didn’t even think twice at his absence.  It was rather amusing to see his father’s reaction though.  At one point I was actually worried that the man would have a .

Yesung released me at lunchtime so I could prepare the archery range for his practice session.  I dutifully trudged through the deep snow, silently cursing the icy wind that cut through me, chilling me to the very bone.

After much effort, I finally reached my destination, however I was surprised to see someone already there.  I watched from a safe distance as the archer lined up his shot and released, sending his arrow hurtling towards the center of the target.

I fixed my eyes on the shooter and immediately recognized him as Kyuhyun.  I found it slightly discerning that I was able to recognize him from afar, but I pushed such strange thoughts from my head as I stepped into his line of sight.

At the sound of my arrival, Kyuhyun turned his bow on me and was poised and ready to shoot.  I didn’t flinch despite the fact a deadly weapon was trained on me.  He lowered the bow when he realized I wasn’t a threat and he mused off-handedly,

“Impressive.  You didn’t even blink” he said this with as he shot another arrow, his eyes focused on his target the entire time.

“Death doesn’t scare me.  I would welcome it if it ever came” 

Kyuhyun shot another arrow before letting his bow fall to his side.  He now trained his eyes on me, studying me with curiosity.  I could see the question in his eyes and I smiled bitterly before I explained,

“I’ve seen how ed up life can be… I know how much pain life can bring.  Life is more frightening than death could ever be”

“But you didn’t kill yourself” he pointed out, “If you aren’t scared then why~?”

“I’m too stubborn and prideful to kill myself.  If I took my life then they would win… I’m not about to give them the satisfaction of breaking me”  Kyuhyun raised his eyebrow and asked,

“By them do you mean~“

“Yes” I answered, cutting him off, “I mean the men who me”

For a moment he didn’t speak.  Anyone else would have thought he felt bad for bringing the subject up, but I knew he wasn’t guilty.  He was simply processing what I had to say.  He didn’t pity me and I was grateful for that fact.

“That’s the first time you were able to talk about your past without flinching” he noted, looking at me seriously. 

I didn’t like how personal the conversation was getting so I quickly lightened the atmosphere.

“It must because you’re doing such a great job at ‘fixing’ me” I snorted, rolling my eyes. 

He smirked and I knew he knew what I was doing.  Much to my relief he decided to play along and dropped the subject.

“Yes, well we all know how amazing I am”

I ignored his arrogance and asked,

“You skipped the meeting to practice?” he nodded, and I couldn’t help but taunt him,

“Why would the almighty Cho Kyuhyun need to practice?”

He shot me an irritated look and shot back,

“Shouldn’t you be your master’s right now?”  I glared at him hatefully, but didn’t let him change my focus,

“Why should you practice anyway?  I thought your dad was making you throw the match”  Kyuhyun gritted his teeth and his eyes flashed dangerously. 

I simply watched his reaction with amusement, taking his frustration as my revenge for his earlier comment.

“Like hell I’m gonna let that bastard win!” he bit out, his hands clenching at his sides. 

I ignored his obvious anger and strode past him, settling myself down on a bench situated near the shooting range.  After a while Kyuhyun seemed to regain his composure and he headed in my direction.

He sat beside me and asked,

“What are you doing here anyway?” I looked up at him and answered sarcastically,

“I missed you soooo much I came to find you”  he smirked at the cynicism that dripped from my voice and asked again,

“No really”

“My master reserved the range this afternoon” I shot him a pointed look, “So if you value your skin, you should probably leave”

The smirk didn’t leave his face, in fact it seemed to grow even more devious than before.

“Yesung really hates me, huh?”

 I snorted and replied caustically,

“I couldn’t imagine why, you’re such a wonderful person”  he rolled his eyes at my implied insult but he ignored it as he made himself more comfortable.

I glanced at him, wondering what he was doing.  I had made it clear that he was not welcome.  He must have seen the question in my eyes because he smiled evilly and announced,

“I think I’ll stick around for a while.  It’s always a joy to watch you kiss Yesung’s ”

 I shot him a dirty look, but tensed when I heard the galloping of horses.  Yesung was coming and I knew things wouldn’t be pretty when he saw Kyuhyun.

I had a bad feeling about all this...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry for abandoning this story, but I really had to finish "I Aim to Please You"

Happily, it's done now and I will be updating more frequently (that is if school doesn't kill me...)

Thanks for reading you guys, I hope you enjoy this update!

Music: "Beautiful" by Donghae (lol, my phone is on shuffle and this popped up, baby Hae is so cute!!!!)