บท 32: Guilty Conscience.
"I need to see him. I-I don't know, just take me to him or summon him before me.." Soojin gasps, chest heaving erratically and sweat rolling down her forehead, trickling the expanse of her face.
There she was, stood before the Chief Guard, in the Royal Guardsmen Chamber.
The Chief Guard was the sole mediator between her and Bohoja.
He communicated letters to and fro Soojin.
He was Bohoja's secret insider in the Palace.
The Chief Guard stares at Soojin's paling face and his eyes go wide watching the Queen Consort standing before him, in a chamber where no royalty had set foot before.
"Q-Queen, you mustn't be here..T-This isn't right." The Guard stutters in a hushed tone, eyes scanning the corridor outside his chamber, checking to see if she had been followed here.
Once he finds the corridor empty and silent, he closes the door behind her, ushering her in.
"Queen Consort, if The Crowned King learns you were here, you and I both are going to face the consequences. I-It's not considered appropriate for Royalty to step into the lower Classmen's chambers. It goes against the rules coined..Y-You must leave before matters grow worse.." The Chief Guard explains with exasperated expressions and wringing hands.
Soojin's brows are furrowed and forehead creased.
"Rules are the last thing I could care about, right now! Bohoja and I are this close to being exposed before the King. Someone else knows about us..I- don't know what to do." Soojin exclaims, pacing the chamber before the Guard standing with his mouth agape.
"W-Who knows?" The Guard asks, fear evident in his eyes.
Soojin stops in her tracks, uttering the name.
"The King of Silkim, Lee Min Hyuk."
Her words reverberate in the chamber.
The Guard clamps his mouth shut with his hand over his mouth.
Soojin nods in his direction.
"Chief Guard, if Yun Ki learns the truth, he's going to kill me and my family. I-I'll need to do something. We need to stop Min Hyuk. How does he know about Bohoja and I in the very first place?"
Soojin questions.
"I-I'm just the mediator, Queen Soojin. I have no knowledge of how King Min Hyuk knows about the two of you..But, I'll set foot into the capitol today, I'll go get Bohoja. I'll find him and get him to you by Dawn. At the break of Dawn, please arrive at the shed, behind the palace. Right after today's horse-race, the sheds will be empty as the horse's will be sent to grooming centres in the countryside. You two will be able to meet in complete isolation."
The Chief Guard explains before Soojin the entire game plan and how the events will unfold.
Soojin breathes a sigh of relief and nods in response to every instruction given by The Guard.
"I-I guess this will work, I'll just have to hold off Min Hyuk from Min Yun Ki. I'll keep Yun Ki distracted. They mustn't talk to each other." Soojin states, resolutely.
"Queen, you must leave now. The King must be wondering where you ought to be.." The Chief Guard comments, opening the gates of his chamber, ushering Soojin out.
With timid and shaky feet, Soojin walks out of the chamber, prodding down the corridor, cursing at her own self for wearing hard heeled sandals, that were clicking against the marble flooring, leading her out of The Guardsmen Chamber.
Just as she's making a right to go in the direction of the other wing of The Palace where the Banquet Hall was, she's met by a hasty Min Yun Ki, who looked as though he'd been running.
The black cotton vest he was sporting, clinging onto his torso, his neckline all sweaty from the exertion.
He locks eyes with Soojin.
His lower lip appears chewed down.
The worried expression he bore gets released as he wreathes out a relieved breath.
Soojin's heart is hammering in her chest as she watches him look behind her, watching the corridor she was coming from.
The corridor towards The Guardsmen Chamber.
Her timing was really off today.
She'd been stumbling into troubles since the very beginning.
Living a lie was starting to become difficult.
"I-I was—" Soojin begins to explain as she's interrupted by Yun Ki grasping her shoulders with his hands and pulling her body flush against his own.
She can feel his arms wrap around her waist, holding her firmer against his chest as it pulsates similar to Soojin's.
Her arms stay pinned to her sides as her face is stuffed into the crook of his sweaty neck, inhaling his natural musky odour.
She can feel the ripples of his torso rubbing against her clothed chest.
"My Queen, I was so worried. You know how I can't stand the thought of you being away from me.." He mutters, rather loudly.
Soojin stands confused, withering under his towering gait as she's clung onto him for dear life.
Was he drunk?
It all made sense to her when sounds of clicking of feet down the corridor are heard and out comes a voice from behind Soojin.
"Aigoo, am I interrupting something?" The infamously familiar voice booms in the empty hall of the Palace and Soojin immediately stiffens knowing the source.
Yun Ki loosens the grasp he has over Soojin's waist, dislodging his body from hers and Soojin feels a pang of loss of warmth.
As though the carpet has been pulled from right beneath her own two feet.
Yun Ki drops a sly kiss over Soojin's sweaty forehead, pulling her shaky figure behind his broad back.
Soojin peeps out from behind Yun Ki's back, staring at Lee Min Hyuk walking out of the corridor Soojin was herself retreating from.
He wears that boastful smirk over his face, eyes reduced to crescents as he prods, proudly.
"Not one bit, Min Hyuk-ah." Yun Ki comments as Soojin grasps onto his bicep, peering at Min Hyuk from behind him, as though he's her shield.
She couldn't hate her fate anymore.
He would surely tell Yun Ki all he knows, being the sly bastard he was.
Of course he'd enjoy Yun Ki humiliating his wife at an occasion that involves participation from Kings and Queens hailing from the East Asian Peninsula.
"Oh what a lovely sight! You stand before her, guarding her from every man, Min Yun Ki?" Hyuk questions, coming to a stop before the two of them.
Yun Ki lets out a scoff.
"Only from the ones who're infamous for their notoriety." Yun Ki responds and Soojin can feel the muscles of his bicep contract.
"So, you'd call yourself, hmm.. what's the word for a shield.. Bohoja?" He questions, looking straight at Soojin and watches her face twist in sheer horror.
Soojin feels her legs shake and she best believes she could drop at any moment, had it not been for her tight grasp around Yun Ki's arm.
Yun Ki laughs in,
"If protecting my wife means I'm a Bohoja, so be it. I'm her Bohoja, then." He retorts.
Yun Ki obviously had no idea what Min Hyuk was insinuating at.
He was throwing threats at Soojin, with every statement.
"Ah, I'm envious of this relationship. May no evil eye cast upon the two of you and your sacred bond." Hyuk comments, walking past Yun Ki and Soojin, winking at the two, passing nonchalantly.
Soojin is fluttering like a leaf at this point but she's confused as to why he hasn't blabbered the truth before Yun Ki just when he had the chance to.
He's clearly enjoying the fun he's having at the expense of Soojin's guild ridden face.
Ass.
Soojin removes her hands from Yun Ki's bicep, staring down at the floor.
He turns in her grasp, grabbing her chin in his fingers, causing her eyes to meet his.
"What were you doing in The Guardsmen Chamber?"
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