Chapter sixty-five: Flashback

Prince Song opened the door quietly and peeped to see the figure sitting up on her bed, her blanket half draped, her eyes groggy and her dressing shabby. An evidence that she just woke up from sleep. She rubbed her eyes lazily and yawned while stretching her aching back due to her bad sleeping posture.

Smiling lazily, she invited him to sit down on her bedside chair while she made a quick run to the bathroom. Seohwa emerged from behind the screens holding unto a sky blue gown with a flowery design made on the top to be used as a small jacket after few minutes.

"Oh!..." she became startled when she finally laid her eyes on the handsome figure watching her with a hawk-like scrutiny.

"I didn't know you were here, young master Song" . She greeted a good morning that was dismissed with the nod of the head. Prince Song has always told her to stick to his name alone which was blatantly refused. The first time they met he was dressed as a nobleman, eventhough he was shipwrecked to their particular part of the land, his air of nobility never diminished one bit. Seohwa always remember that even if her miss forgets. Prince Song is always different no matter how he tries to hide it.

Just as he was about to caution her, Yoona emerged with wet hair looking alluring in her white bathrobe. Her cheeks were slightly pink with a sparkling eyes. Her V-shaped robe exposed the upper part of her neck tainted a tinge of red. Her lips looked fuller, succulent and ravishing pink. Lost in thought, he missed the question that was thrown at him.

"Song? are you listening at all?".The crystal clear voice sent him out from his land of fantasy and returned him to the world of oblivion. At first, he wanted to pretend that he heard her the first time and dared to make a guess on the question, but when he racked his brain to no avail on the most appropriate word to say to cover up his misdeed, he decided to come clean.

"Yoona, I'm really sorry but what did you ask?

"I asked to what pleasure do I owe this early morning visit?". She rubbed her hands trying to warm her palms while training her eyes on him.

Prince Song glanced at the ground, drew in a sharp breath and sighed. "I am going back to the capital, my father needs me". He looked sad while saying those words at the same time he wished he could take her with him.

"Wow! really? I have never heard you talk about your family before. At a time, I thought you were homeless or something". She blurted out the words before thinking and regretted the way it sounded. Moving her lips to explain that she didn't mean it the way it sounded, he smiled guiltily at her. Under the guilt is an unspoken sadness.

"You are right. I don't talk about my family. It's not because I want to hide anything from you but it's due to personal reasons". he sighed helplessly.

She smiled good-naturedly at him and bid him farewell on his journey. Prince Song became hurt by her actions, it didn't seem as if she will miss him. Looking at the sad face of the real Seohwa, he took consolation on the fact that at least one person will miss him sincerely but it's quite frustrating that Yoona wants to be rid of him as fast as possible.

"Will you come with me?" He asked expectedly while doubting at the same time if she will agree to his request. Well, he was turned down politely and respectfully just as he presumed.

"I will like to go to the capital, but... my mother won't even allow me to go". Ever since her memory loss, her mom has become insecure. Seohwa was banned from talking about anything related to it. Her father reluctantly but decisively agreed with her mother, it's only her brother that mentioned something about not allowed to be seen in the capital. He warned her not to fantasize about it because of some dangerous consequences. Speaking of her brother, what exactly has he been up to lately? He went to Panja to find out the identity of the strange man in their house. Though unconscious due to the severity of his injuries, but his tattoo and the Panja hairstyle indicated that he might be a native.

Heartless! Prince Song screamed in his mind. Over the past six months, he has been trying to woo her subtly but either she's really naive or cunning, but he has always been turned down in a way he can't even retaliate or get angry. The wooing took more than he expected but he still continued until Jae joon made it clear to stay away from her.

Now he's indirectly asking to spend more time with her but he has already been turned down before he even started. What to do? He will only have to take things slowly. Sooner or later, she will become his woman , well he believes so.

He chit-chat with her a little longer before temporarily asking to leave with the promise to see her again before leaving.

At last, he left to see the master, her father.

-____________________________

Flashback.

6 months ago, Prince Song had really believed that Yoona's name was really Seohwa until the fateful day that they encountered a little but funny incident.

That morning, Yoona's father had ordered that some female volunteers should join in the fishing expedition on the farther part of an island that was discovered to have a large number of fishes and other seafood in order to grill some of them there.

While rowing on a small boat, a white and blue shiny fish was seen swimming alongside their boat and splattering water on them due to its jumping and diving. Fascinated by the acrobatic display of the large fish, Yoona urged that the fish be caught as a pet.

The hook and line was prepared and the bait of earthworm was used. Enticed by the wiggling food in its lair, the unsuspecting fish bit on the hook and got stuck. Feeling cornered, the fish fought for its dear life and dragged the line with them in a tug of war. The surprised people all joined hands to pull the fish up but was almost overpowered by its strength.

Mr Kim, Yoona's father saw the unsteady balance of Seohwa and shouted that Song, the nearest person to her should hold unto her and steady her up. With such an opportunity to get into a skin contact with the love of his life, his desire clouded his judgement and made him leap to the farthest corner and to Yoona without analyzing the situation first and the distance too owing to the fact that his "Seohwa" is already surrounded with people that can steady her should she fall.

Splash! someone fell into the water and screamed.

"Foolish boy! I said Seohwa not Yoona". Mr Kim bellowed while rushing to help the poor girl out of the water. The men let go of the line that caught the fish due to its aggression. Seohwa while still in the water thought the line slipped out of their hands and picked it up to hand over to them but the angry fish on its escape dragged Seohwa along with it making her a human boat.

The dumbfounded and confused human male, still looked lost . Everything now came rushing back to him. The angry women, the teases, the replaced identity and some other things flooded his mind, so everything had been a serious case of mistaken identity? He looked down at the girl struggling in his arms and asked the most stupid question of his life.

"Are you really Yoona? not Seohwa?"

"Yes you buffoon! now , will you stop suffocating me and let me go?". She struggled harder and got released from his grip or should I say it's the other way round as Song loosened his grip on her.

Prince Song watched the back of the girl who rushed forward to pick up an oar to row the boat faster with the men to the far end of the sea where Seohwa bobbed up and down apparently released by the fish who finally removed the hook from its mouth together with the human load.

Everything he ever did plagued his mind. Song and Seohwa forever. Double S (From their initial). S-Square. Song weds Seohwa. All the prayers he made to heaven to make him marry Seohwa. He even swore they are a match made in heaven because they have the same alphabet starting their names. Kang Song and Kim Seohwa has become a bedtime lullaby sending him to the sweet respite of sleep.

He even swore to heaven, that if it's not Seohwa he won't marry anyone else. Wait a minute, he hopes that heaven won't really match him together with Seohwa but with the object of desire that created an image in his mind while saying those prayers.

What the heck! he has been praying for the wrong person. What a foolish person he has become. He shoved his thoughts at the back of his mind and picked up an oar to row towards the scared and freezing girl who was in the middle of the sea which was partly his fault.

"Sorry Master, I have been deceived". He apologized to Yoona's father but he was ignored. Mr Kim rowed the boat faster while shouting at Seohwa to hold on.

"So your name is really Yoona?". He turned towards the paddling girl and whispered but wasn't even spared a glance.

"Yoona... Kim Yoona". He called out repeatedly. I really love this name. He smiled.