Does it hurt?

-In Yun Ki's Chamber-

A while ago :

Yun Ki stormed back into his Chamber, fist gushing with blood, the pale grey dirt from concrete mixed with the red of his muscles and the white of his bony knuckles.

He felt as though he'd lost that hand forever, considering the loss in sensation he was undergoing.

The pain throbbing past his wrist, up to his biceps and yet he felt nothing in his wrist, that was inflicted and crushed.

"Ssibal." He mutters, angrily as he raises his arm to inspect his wound.

Wound would be an understatement.

Yun Ki was only starting to see the damage his anger and ego had been causing when he injured his own self.

What could he do, though?

He was enraged by the thought of frightening away the girl he was starting to develop a soft corner for.

She saw him nothing short of a monster, he was convinced.

Foolish of him to even think that Soojin would see past his dark and deep exterior.

He'd manoeuvred into his hard shell after toiling through years of self-loathing, detestment, inferiority.

How could someone, as new and fresh as the day, dip her hands into the dark, coal coated exterior, he'd hid himself in?

Opening the doors to his Chamber, he's met with Areum laid on his bed, in nothing but a flimsy purple robe, see through in nature.

She had her black tresses sprawled across his red bedsheets and she lay, playing with the strings of her knitted robe.

Yun Ki was irritated, exhausted and impoverished of energy.

Watching Areum toss and turn in his bed was the last straw for him.

Areum breaks out of the daze she was in, the sound of Yun Ki closing the heavy doors of his chamber, scattering through the room.

She passes him a seductive smile and her eyes course through his body, landing on the bloodied fist that had been making a puddle of rouge by his feet.

She gets up in an instant, eyes flickering with worry and disdain.

"Your Majesty! What have you done?" She cries, rushing through the room right by Yun Ki's figure, kneeling down to cradle his arm in hers as she panics.

Just as she lays her hand on his wrist, he winces in detestment, shrugging it away from her.

"I don't remember calling for a Concubine.." He roars, walking into the room, seating himself on the edge of the bed, fist resting atop his knees.

Areum stares at the pool of blood on the marble flooring and lets out a sob before she's crawling back to Yun Ki, resting her head on his thigh, seated by his foot like a loyal pet.

She's face to face with the gushing wound, resting on Yun Ki's lap.

His face reads discomfort and he's pale from all the blood he's lost.

"Y-Yun Ki, you've lost a gallon of blood. The wound is too big for you to ignore, so recklessly.."

Yun Ki pushes Areum by the shoulder, causing her to fall back on the floor.

"Till when will you keep pushing away the people who care about you?" Areum screams at Yun Ki, raising her voice at The King for the first time.

Yun Ki stands back, running a hand through his untied locks, growing impatient.

"Leave, Areum. Let me be alone." He grits through his teeth.

She stands up, close to him, the robe barely covering any part of herself.

"Why? So you can bleed to death? I'm not going anywhere, even if you try and drag me out." She argues, reaching for the sowing kit on the dressing table.

Just as she's turning to the cabinet, Yun Ki throws an arm around her stomach, pulling her back.

"Stop. Don't make me throw you out of the Palace." He spits, eyes beaming in rage.

Areum detaches herself from him.

"Is that all you see me as? What about the times you called me your confidant, your friend? Why are you asking me to leave when I know you need me the most?" She asks, equally as defiant and resolute.

Yun Ki sighs in defeat.

He had to keep mum for the sake of his love and adoration for Areum, as a friend.

He seats himself back on the edge as Areum scrambles to get hot water, towels, the root of Willow and needles.

She seats herself before Yun Ki on the floor, seated between his parted legs.

"Chew on this." She feeds Yun Ki the root for pain relief and he obliges, avoiding eye contact.

She dips the towel in warm water, dabbing over the wound, watching the dirty debris cleanse off of his gaping wound.

"You're so careless, Yun Ki. What even happened?" She questions, rinsing the rest of his palm.

"It was out of rage, don't think too much of it.." He argues back.

She snickers in response.

"When have I ever questioned your actions?" She responds, tongue out in a focused gaze.

"From the looks of it, you've hit your hand on concrete." She comments.

"H-How can you tell?" He asks, eyes meeting hers.

She pulls out a sharp piece of concrete that would've been the part of the pillar he rammed his hand into.

He looks away, again.

She pulls out the needle, piercing through the epidermal ends of the opened wound.

"I saw you run away with Soojin. Everyone wondered where the two of you left.." She mumbles as Yun Ki just hums in response.

Just as she tugs on the suture, creating a figure of 8 and approximating the ends close to each other, Yun Ki weeps in pain.

"A-Aish.." He sighs in complaint.

Areum looks at the pained expressions on his face, his brows furrowed, pupils all shaky.

She knows him like the back of her hand.

She can tell his mood by just taking a mere glance over his face.

"Does it hurt?" She asks, in a lull.

Yun Ki breathes out a heavy breath.

"It does, the skin is rather tight." He comments.

"Not the wound." She says, causing Yun Ki's eyes to meet hers.

"Your heart.." She comments.

Raising a hand over to the left of his chest, she presses.

"Does it hurt here? Knowing that the one you love, doesn't love you back?" Areum asks, tears welling up in her eyes.

Yun Ki's expressions drop.

He feels the squeeze in his chest.

It hurts so bad.

He changes the expressions on his face.

"What are you meaning to say? T-That's ridiculous." He comments, snickering or at least, acting to snicker.

"I've known you since forever, Yun Ki. You can run from her but you can't hide from me.." She breathes out.

Yun Ki's smile falters, rage creeping into his soul, causing him to shut his eyes.

"What do you know about hurting?" He asks, mocking Areum's prophecy.

She stays silent, tying the ends of the suture knots.

"It's all I've ever known. I know how the heart cries and laments in a one sided love. I've known it ever since I've gained a hold of my thoughts." She completes, dabbing the dried blood over the sutures, standing up.

Yun Ki grabs ahold of her wrist before she can leave.

"Who is the man? I'll skin him alive." He speaks through narrowed eyes, grinding his teeth in disgust.

A tear rolls off of the corner of her eyes as she passes him a small smile, staring at him, intently.

And he understands.

She was different, after all.

He even knows he'd married her had she not been a Royal Concubine.

Yun Ki stammers, turning red.

"I-I don't know how to respond to this.." He manages to fumble out.

Areum giggles, wiping the ends of her leaking eyes with the pads of her fingers.

She cups his face, rubbing her nose with his.

"This is why I love you. You're so unaware of the effect you have on me. You say the most complex of things so easily. You've only ever been honest with me. You respect what we have and you've always treated me well." She smiles, kissing his parted lips.

"..Despite the disparities that lie between us, you've treated me as an equal, always.." She cries before Yun Ki seats her down on his lap.

He rests his head in the crook of her neck.

"You're my best friend, Areum.." He breathes out, hand wrapping around her waist.

"As much as I know you're hurting, I-I can't accept your love." He says, kissing the nape of her neck.

Areum looks up, avoiding the continuous dam of tears threatening to spill past her eyes.

With a shaky voice, she nods.

"I understand. You were always made for someone greater." She says, retrieving his face from her neck and watches his own eyes fill with tears.

"Who made you, Min Yun Ki, this frail? What did she do to my Yun Ki? The one who'd dismiss emotions at the blink of an eye?" Areum questions, rubbing soothing circles into his cheeks.

"She taught him to feel things." He says, closing his eyes, nose flaring.

Areum presses kisses down his face.

"You won't accept my love. How about my body?" She asks, grabbing his hand, placing it on her breasts.

Yun Ki breathes out.

"I can't say no tot the one thing that keeps me distracted, can I?" He smiles, squeezing her mounds.

Areum lets out a whine, meshing her lips with his, pushing him back on the bed.