#but now that he's found tae he's committed to doing everything to woo him and show him that he's sorry and is a good guy actually

[heyymonkey2]

First Night Back in Fuuga Ch 33: Preparing for What’s Coming

AO3 Link to Chapter 33

Summary: Friends arrive to help Yona and Hak transition into everything new

Knock Knock Knock -- the sweet rhythm gives itself away.

The entire room looks toward the door, hearts lifted, as Yun approaches to open it. And when he does--

Yona bursts onto him with a hug and cheery face, “You’re here!”

Catching his balance, Yun smiles as he lifts his arms to hug her back, “It’s surprising, alright, but… here we are. Our own room in the palace.”

Yona glances across at Jae-Ha, Shin-Ah, and Ao beaming at her.

“I can’t wait to show you everything! This was my home for most of my life. My whole world.”

“Then I can’t wait to see it,” Jae-Ha coos as he approaches, “Your Majesty.”

“Oh Jae-Ha…” Yona blushes, “You don’t need to address me like that.”

“You know how I adore powerful women,” he lifts her hand to his lips for a gentle peck.

Yona’s eyes go wide. Powerful? Sure, maybe that’s true… but it’s still so weird to hear. Less than a year before she’d been at her most powerless. A painful point of reference she’ll carry with her always.

Yona glances down toward Jae-Ha’s abs, where he’d been hurt in battle, “How are you feeling?”

“Don’t worry, Dear. I may not be Zeno, but we dragons heal quickly,” Jae-Ha looks up out the door and far in the distance sees Hak leaning against a wall, watching.

As Ao bounds onto Yona and she with a giggle rushes to Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha slips out the door with a simple “be right back” to Yun.

A few strides later, Jae-Ha arrives at Hak.

“You’re an impressive man, Hak, but I think you’d have to actually split in two to be both the king and her bodyguard. Unless you tied her up and took her with you everywhere."

Both men look at each other considering, then smile at how impossible that would be with Yona.

Hak looks longingly toward the door that has her within, “I knew what I was getting into when I married her. I didn’t know what I was getting into when we got her back here.”

“King.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Jae-Ha would normally bug him further, but he can tell this concept is actually bothering Hak, so instead--

“You know, there are a couple handy dragons around… sworn to protect her, specials powers, and all that. You can trust us. Not to mention some warrior seems to have taught her how to fight for herself.”

Hak looks back to Jae-Ha, “Yeah, I know. I trust you all. I just don’t trust this place. Not yet. There’re some things I need to take care of."

"I have no doubt," Jae-Ha's just waiting for the ask.

"Mundok should be arriving today. Keep an eye on her till then?”

“Of course,” Jae-Ha had already planned on it.

Hak takes one last glance at the door, then heads in another direction.

While Yun checks on Min-Soo and Shin-Ah hunts for a stash of nuts for Ao, Yona walks with Jae-Ha in one of the palace's elaborate flower gardens to find privacy.

“Here!” at last Yona finds the fountain she was looking for, a little trickle of water to further mask the sound of their voices. She sits and Jae-Ha joins at her side.

“Oh!” Jae-Ha gasps when Yona throws her arms around his shoulders in a hug.

“I’m sorry,” she pulls back and looks up at him teary-eyed, “Finally we can talk -- I’m just so relieved you’re OK. Jae-Ha… back at Kai.”

“I thought you’d be mad at me.”

“Furious,” Yona admits, “You pinned me down!”

Jae-Ha looks so very sorry.

Yona looks ahead, determined, “But thank you: you were right. If I had started things over that way, I would be no better than Soo-Won. That’s not how I want to live my life.”

Jae-Ha looks out over the water, “You’re a hard master to follow. And the most easily admirable.”

“You know I’m not your master. And you could have died! Jae-Ha, you mean the world to me. Don’t think that wouldn’t have affected me as deeply. Please, be selfish -- protect yourself.”

“I was.”

Yona watches him a moment, not entirely grasping his meaning. But on his countenance… well, the meaning must be deep.

“Zeno aside… dragon lives are short.”

“Jae-Ha...”

“It’s a reality we’re always aware of. Yona, since meeting you… it’s the first time in my life I felt whole. And not just OK with this life… thankful. That’s why, if someone needs to sacrifice himself for you -- I want it to be me.”

“Jae-Ha, why are you…?”

He smiles softly down to her, “Hak.”

And suddenly Yona understands… if things had been different and it hadn’t been Jae-Ha that day, it would’ve most certainly been Hak. If he’d had his way. ...as always, Jae-Ha wasn’t just protecting her.

“He’s the most resilient man I’ve ever seen. I think he might live forever. And he has good reason to.”

Yona blushes a little and looks down at her shoes… “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course.”

Still looking down, “He may have another good reason on the way.”

When Yona braves peeking up at Jae-Ha, his returning smile reaches the bottom of her heart.

On she and Jae-Ha’s way back, Yona spots Mundok with Tae-Woo at the other end of the main courtyard. She starts running.

Mundok turns to see a blur of crimson, pink, and amethyst headed his way. He opens his arms wide. When he bends down, he pulls her into a grand hug -- incredible relief etched across his face.

Mundok, fully aglow, looks up at Jae-Ha approaching from the same direction the princess came as he sets her down. With a quick glance around, “The boy left your side?!”

“He’ll be so happy to see you.”

That touches Mundok, “I’m glad to hear you’re both OK. I heard about the battle. Terrible.”

Yona nods, “It was a miracle we survived."

Then Mundok remembers something, “I’m gonna have to kill him."

Tae-Woo has a hand to his face in defeat. Jae-Ha is thoroughly amused.

Yona is shocked, “Why?!”

“He let you get carried off by Soo-Won from the center of battle!”

“He’d just taken down the enemy leader!” Tae-Woo tries to clarify.

“He’d better have!”

“He’d almost taken down Soo-Won--”

“--had he, the princess wouldn’t have--”

“I’m fine!” Yona stresses, trying to calm the violent banter, “Jae-Ha found me. It was very lucky.”

The Wind men look at Jae-Ha with admiration. Mundok pulls the green dragon into a warm hug which is shocking after all those fighting words. Tae-Woo watches unphased.

“It’s good to see you, Jae-Ha. It’s a great thing you did for the princess.”

Jae-Ha watches the old man, wondering how much he knows about what happened that day…

“By the way, Lady Lili was just looking for you.”

“Lili’s here?!” Yona lights up even more.

“Just arrived. We crossed her at the gate. She was asking about Jae-Ha.”

Jae-Ha glances toward the gate in confusion...

“I’m glad you could make it,” Joo-Doh says from where he's been waiting.

Hak closes the door to the king’s quarters behind him.

With sarcasm, "Nice work," Hak looks back toward the wall that Yona told him had gone to flames the night Soo-Won murdered her father in here, "you can’t tell there was ever a fire in here.”

“It’s important to me that you know I had nothing to do with that.”

“Why? Because it’s true? Or because I’m about to be king?”

Joo-Doh rises from the chair where he was sitting and approaches Hak so they can see each others’ eyes.

“I serve the king, whoever that may be. For the good of the Sky Tribe and Kouka.”

“Half your tribe was in on it. How did your men raise a sword to the princess and you not know about it?”

Joo-Doh looks away in frustration, then back, “I don’t know.”

“Not a single member of the Wind Tribe would have ever…”

“I’m aware that there may still be corruption in the Sky Tribe. It’s my commitment that I’ll weed those warriors out.”

Hak isn’t so sure about that…

“But to keep you and the princess safe, to win loyalty and inspire these men… I need something to tell them about that night. What really happened.”

“You’re so good at telling the truth, why not start with that?”

“I have no idea what the truth is. About that night or the battle with Kai. I myself am not sure if you’re a king I should be inspired to support or wary to follow.”

Hak stares at Joo-Doh, pissed. Not just because of what he said. Also because Hak doesn’t actually know what happened to Soo-Won at Kai. Just that the bastard's gone now. He’d figured he’d get a chance to get more details from the princess once they had some privacy, but that's not the direction things took...

“Do me a favor and don’t ever speak to Her Majesty like that,” Hak growls, his words sharp as blades, “We would appreciate it if you could get control of your tribe,” then looking at Joo-Doh straight in the eyes, “and if you want to know the truth, remember back on the childhoods you watched for so long. What kind of people do you honestly think we are?”

As Hak leaves, Joo-Doh sadly replies, “That’s the same reason I was loyal to Soo-Won after that night. I hope you can understand my confusion.”

Without looking back, Hak closes the door behind him, then stares forward over that damned courtyard. Yes, he can understand. That confusion has been the worst pain of his life.

The sight of that spot where she was on her knees, that sword above her… Hak’s breath catches. Suddenly he’s desperate to hold her, remind himself she’s OK.

Jae-Ha is letting Mundok alone escort Yona to a meeting scheduled with Kyo-Ga since the meeting needs to be private anyway and Mundok is the pinnacle of people to trust. Also, because Yona has been privately sharing special news today...

Yona is bursting to tell Mundok about she and Hak’s news, but knows she can’t yet. They haven’t seen a doctor to know for sure and Hak should definitely be there when they tell his grandfather…

“Your Majesty,” Kyo-Ga bows profoundly to Yona who has just arrived before the meeting room.

In the privacy of the generals' meeting room, Kyo-Ga confides, “Your coronation is imminent. So long as Soo-Won doesn’t appear within the next week, there will be no complication.”

Yona nods, “You wanted to meet to confirm this?"

“No… I wanted to meet to discuss seeing to it there would be no complications.”

“What do you mean?”

“No one knows exactly what happened to Soo-Won, correct?”

“...it's correct I’m not sure of Soo-Won’s current state,” Yona is careful not to lie.

“If he does appear somewhere or heavens forbid show up at the palace… I’d like to assure you that he will disappear once more. He will not be king or a threat to you any longer.”

Yona’s eyes go wide, “That's…”

“I’d like to protect you and your crown, Your Majesty, because of all you represent.”

“I don’t represent that, Kyo-Ga,” it slips out.

“Pardon?”

Yona can see a certain terror in his eyes, that she’s upset with him or worse, so she softens, “Please don’t concern yourself with such measures. There are more important issues to focus on...”

They meet eyes for a challenging moment, then Kyo-Ga eloquently changes the topic to Yona’s relief.

Yet all through the rest of the meeting, Yona is bothered by the idea she may not have convinced the Fire general to set aside his special effort…

Outside again, Yona sits with Mundok at Hak’s favorite bench.

“I once had many conversations with your father about meetings like this,” Mundok reveals, looking down at Yona tenderly like her father himself, “If you have the Fire Tribe’s support, then everything else aside, there is something good there.”

“Yes, but… Mundok,” Yona can’t take it anymore, she has to tell someone, she feels overwhelmed and sick, anxious, “I’ve complicated everything terribly. Most think he’s dead. Kyo-Ga just said he would kill him if he wasn’t. … but I had Kija and Zeno take him someplace safe.”

“Who…? Slow down,” Mundok grows concerned at Yona’s fast pace and her face turning white.

“Soo-Won,” her eyes flash up, “he’s still alive.”

Out. Finally, the words are out. And instead of better, the shock on Mundok’s face makes Yona feel worse. She feels like she’s gonna throw up but she can’t. Air. She needs air.

Yona bolts up to her feet only to feel immense dizziness.

She takes a step and falls.

“Look at you, upright and everything.”

Jae-Ha turns around at the training grounds where he’d gone in hopes of finding Hak. Instead, it appears he's been found by Lady Lili.

“It was no thanks to Hak’s gentle handling, but I survived,” Jae-Ha takes a seat at one of the benches overlooking the field.

Lili joins beside him, “I’m just looking for Yona.”

Jae-Ha is annoyed that he kind of knows that’s a lie, “She’s at the generals’ meeting room.”

Lili nods but makes no effort to get up, “How are you doing? Your wounds?”

“I’d be remiss not to ask you the same.”

“Hm?”

“I heard about your father,” Jae-Ha admits sincerely.

Lili stares forward, serene. Jae-Ha notices there’s something different about her now -- something in the look in her eyes.

Mundok sits at Yona’s bedside in a small patient room, trying and failing to suppress an enormous smile. Yona looks exhausted, but content in her bedding.

Hak rushes in past the doctor who tries to slow him down. Yona smiles up at him and he back down at her -- only to be grabbed by Mundok and dragged into an adjacent room, door closed.

Hak is frantic to get back to her-- “What happened?! Is she hurt?”

“The princess is fine.”

Hak sighs relief, then sees the way Mundok is looking at him…

“Did the doctor say something…”

Mundok’s eyes narrow, “You couldn’t give her any time to recuperate after the battle…?”

Hak’s cheeks turn pink as he lifts a hand to nervously scratch the back of his head as he looks down in search of a non-super-awkward answer, “Gramps, I…”

But when Hak looks back up, he sees Mundok’s face is bright and teary. The elder strides over and pulls his grandson into a heartfelt bear hug.

“Don't worry about that -- there’s no such thing as a good time for starting your family,” Mundok is so damn proud, “Congratulations, Boy. What a blessing. And I’ll be a great grandfather… The gods are clearly behind your union. What an incredible child this will be. What a great fortune this is.”

Hak can barely breathe from the hug, but despite that he is immensely thankful his grandfather is so happy about this. ...he just got the princess pregnant and Mundok isn’t trying to kill him. This is a miracle beyond miracles.

“So it’s for sure…?” Hak manages, “We didn’t know yet.”

Mundok nods, “It’s for sure. And the princess let me know why you didn’t come to a doctor sooner.”

“I didn’t like it,” Hak stresses.

“It was a good idea,” Mundok corrects, “The generals have almost all arrived. The meeting about coronation will take place tomorrow. The princess can’t be seen with a doctor. She needs to appear in good health.”

“Then what about…?” Hak nods toward the room with the doctor.

“I’ll see to it this one stays quiet. The princess should be fine if she stays in your care the rest of the day and through the night. But you need to get her spirit back up. She loves you, Boy, I'm sure you'll have no trouble.”

Hak looks away from his grandfather, his face now completely red from the awkward.

Hak enters to see his wife looking up at him with worried eyes.

“I know you wanted to come to the doctor together,” Yona apologizes.

“No, no, I’m just happy you and the baby are OK,” Hak sits beside her and bends down to kiss her forehead.

“The baby…,” Yona beams up at him remembering, “our baby.”

Hak takes one of her hands in his and caresses her cheek with his other, “I wanna do something special for you tonight. Will you come somewhere with me -- just us?”

[heyymonkey2]

First Night Back in Fuuga Ch 29: Heal You

AO3 Link to Chapter 29

Summary: Yona and Hak reunite after defeating Kai

Yona and Hak see each other.

A heavy breath of relief escapes both, suddenly all the air in the world feels lighter.

Hak slides off his horse. As he advances toward Yona, there are tears in his eyes.

Yona is stuck in place staring as though he were a mirage. That mess of black hair stuck to his face and the emotion behind. Hak? ...Hak!! She starts running--

--falls to her knees when she reaches him, not wanting to risk throwing herself into him and hurting her gallant warrior any further. He meets her there -- falling to his knees and reaching out to touch her, pull her to him, thank the gods and never let her go.

“Princess…” he tries not to hold her too tight but of course he is -- as he nuzzles his face into her hair, sure they’re both dust-covered and bloodied, but this is her and any scent of her stirs his heart, “Are you hurt?”

“You idiot!” she’s smiling and clinging onto him unyieldingly despite her language, “Your leg! You’re injured, we need to get you to--”

“I’m gonna be fine,” he lifts her face up toward him so he can look into her eyes, “Did he hurt you? Is he gone?”

Looking into those comforting, piercing blue eyes after all that just happened… Yona nods ‘yes’ to both questions and then loses it sobbing into him.

He holds her against his broad chest, caressing her back lovingly, “It’s OK. I’m here now. Everything’s gonna be OK.”

The comfort of his voice and strength of his arms around her, Yona can hardly believe they found their way back to each other, “Hak,” his name on her lips has become synonymous with ‘I love you.’

Zeno and Kija have just gotten there and stand next to the reunited couple.

As Yona and Hak turn to their friends, she gasps achingly, “Jae-Ha! We have to find him, he just… he flew off but he--”

“We found him,” Kija offers.

Yona’s heart stops, “Found him? ...is he… is he...”

Zeno shakes his head oh, no no--“We were lucky we brought the other Little Miss with. She has him now. Shin-Ah lead them back to camp to treat his wound.”

“Lili… was here?” it’s all too much of a miracle, but Yona has seen a lot of those today, “Jae-Ha might be OK?”

The dragons nod.

“We need to go to them,” Yona rises, unsteady. When she sees Hak’s worry, “I was hit in the head, but I’ll be fine. Jae-Ha might not be, so…” she looks toward his horse, “Let me ride with you?”

“Of course,” he’s still staring at her with those concerned eyes as he rises.

“I’ll let you inspect it when we get to the medic tent. Just trust me… I’m not going to die in your arms between here and there.”

“You better not,” he cups her chin and runs a gentle finger along her petite jawline, “I’d never forgive you.”

Yona smiles tearfully at his meaning, “It’s nice I’m not hanging off a cliff though, huh?”

“I appreciate that,” he tenderly kisses her forehead, then takes her hand to lead her.

“Wait -- just one moment,” Yona slips her hand back out of his grasp, “I need to tell Zeno and Kija something. I’ll be right up.”

Hak nods. He’s comfortable giving her privacy. Even now.

When Yona reaches Zeno and Kija at their horse, the yellow-haired dragon is waiting as though he knew this moment was next. Kija is at the ready for whatever she needs.

“It’s about Soo-Won…” she begins.

She had a life-changing decision to make when she faced off with Soo-Won back there. The favor she asks now is her choice. And in so many ways now, she hopes she’s fast enough...

Yun slips into the main medic tent to the sight of hundreds of warriors being treated. He looks around in worry… will they have enough supplies? Then he hears it--

“And you! Bring me another needle right away. This wound isn’t gonna close itself!”

Yun hardly recognizes the command emanating from this child. She’d been a blubbering mess in the tent with Min-Soo the last time he saw her… but damn, this girl’s got some passion.

“We need to give the best possible care to this man! He’s kin to the royal family!” Lili is focused, determined, as she gently wipes sweat from Jae-Ha’s fevered forehead, then she whispers, ‘You too, you know. You have to do your best. She needs you.”

Yona is nauseous and dizzy during the ride back to camp, so when the finally arrive, she between Hak’s arms on their shared steed, she’s not ready for what they witness--

The crowd of Koukan fighters along the pathway before them parts. As the warriors realize who they are -- Her Highness and the Thunder Beast -- they kneel with their heads down to honor them.

“This is…” suddenly Yona realizes the outcome of this battle may have changed things in a very real way.

Also… she turns because she has to see it -- Hak is so embarrassed he’s downright annoyed and red in the face from irritation. This is not his thing. Yona giggles as he runs a hand through his hair to obscure his face.

“What? They’re all looking at you,” Hak corrects with his face down.

“Oh right, of course,” Yona totally doesn’t believe that. They saw him out there. He’s amazing. And she agrees with them.

“Your Majesty,” Joo-Doh stands before them, knowing exactly what he’s looking at -- he left a duel on that battlefield. If Hak is here, then… “Am I correct to… believe the king has fallen?”

Yona stares forward for a long moment. Honestly, I’m not even sure exactly… but I know what my answer has to be: “Back there… Soo-Won was taken down.”

Yona feels Hak’s arms and chest stiffen. She moves a hand from the mane to his on the rein and gives it a squeeze.

“Then, Your Majesty--”

“--I apologize, we’re in a hurry to tend the wounded. There’s nothing that can be down about what I just said. So let’s leave the details of those matters to be dealt with when our people are in stable condition.”

Yona gently kicks their horse’s flank and continues past Joo-Doh and the bowing warriors, toward her friends and family, and all the sacrifices that allowed her to survive to this moment.

When Jae-Ha opens his eyes, a grumpy black-haired beast is next to him.

“Deja vu, I’m afraid,” his body hurts like hell.

The corner of Hak’s mouth rises, relieved, “Well if you’d quit getting yourself into these situations…”

"Can't help myself," Jae-Ha smiles as best he can, “You’re here… so she must be OK.”

“Dying to see you, but alive,” Hak confirms.

Jae-Ha closes his eyes in relief for a moment -- all the pain well worth it -- then opens them to continue his favorite pastime -- hassling this guy, “You know, now you’re not the only one with a scar for her.”

Hak raises an eyebrow, “If you think I won’t hit you just because you’re dying, you’re wrong.”

“Hak!” Yona rushes over from talking with Lili off to the side and smacks Hak’s arm, “You have no boundaries!” Then turns to smile down at Jae-Ha.

“That guy has no boundaries…” Hak mutters, making room for Yona at Jae-Ha’s side.

“What you did back there…” Yona starts but then stops herself, “No, we’re going to have plenty of time to talk about that later. Because you’re going to get better, OK?”

“Of course, Dear,” Jae-Ha comforts, “Did I mention just being near you heals me?”

Hak rolls his eyes and turns to see Lili giving him the stink eye.

“I see that foot -- no kicking patients’ beds or I’ll kick your ass! Also, a certain someone told me you have a leg that needs tending to…”

Hak looks around the room, “Focus on those guys. I can dress this,” then he gets up and heads to get wrappings and such to deal with his leg.

Lili looks back over at Jae-Ha, then moves closer and reveals, “He really is going to be fine, I think. This is the second wound like that I’ve treated in the past couple days. Perfectly missed the vital organs.”

Yona turns to Lili, the meaning of this washing over her… “The same man caused both cuts. It was Soo-Won.”

Lili’s eyes widen, “Do you think he… on purpose tried not to mortally wound them?”

“I did the same to him,” Jae-Ha interjects, “A certain captain made me very good at non-fatal damage.”

“Then he…” as Yona realizes, she glances across the room at her husband with his wounded leg propped up as he chats with Shin-Ah, “Lili, Jae-Ha… please don’t say anything to Hak. Something like this, I need to tell him myself. At the right time.”

The camp is being packed up everywhere save for the medic tent area. After spending ample time with Jae-Ha, treating Hak’s leg and Yona’s head, and sending Yun to bring Min-Soo in with everyone else now that he’s in safe company -- Yona and Hak were requested to the generals’ tent by Joo-Doh.

When they arrive, Joo-Doh, Kyo-Ga, Geun-Tae, and Tae-Woo are there around the table. Tae-Woo beams up at Hak and Yona.

“We heard…” Kyo-Ga begins, “About Soo-Won.”

“No one’s been able to recover his body. But at this point…” Joo-Doh sighs, “Can you tell us what exactly happened out there?”

“He was with me,” Yona clarifies.

Joo-Doh raises his eyebrows. That's odd... last he saw, he was with Hak…

“I saw him go down. I was quite preoccupied myself, so I don’t have any more clear details to provide. If you haven’t found a body, then I think we can presume someone took it.”

“In which case…” Geun-Tae shakes his head at what happens to leaders when taken by the opposing side in war.

“Leave it to us, Your Highness, we’ll keep searching,” Joo-Doh commits.

“However,” Kyo-Ga interjects, “If His Majesty is not recovered within the month, then given what we know, we should move forward in the assumption that the king is gone. This country needs a ruler. In which case, we should proceed with the ceremony to install Princess Yona as Queen. And with tradition, the man she chooses to wed will become the king.”

Yona takes a deep breath -- they don’t know. Well, some of them don’t. Tae-Woo is going through some sort of shock at the end of the table. Geun-Tae’s checking out his fingernails like he’s bored. Joo-Doh looks like he’s about to say something…

Yona looks up at Hak who looks back down at her like he always has -- whatever she wants, he’s fully behind her.

So Yona moves her hands behind her neck, undoes the tie of her necklace, pulls it off to remove the ring, and hands it to Hak.

Now all the generals are watching with serious fascination.

Yona nods up at Hak. Carefully, he undoes the necklace around his neck, removes the ring, and hands it to her.

Hak takes Yona's left hand in both of his and slips the symbol of his love onto her ring finger.

Yona takes Hak's great left hand in both of her small hands, and slips her promise onto his ring finger.

Hand in hand, they turn to the stunned audience.

Yona confirms, “I’ve already chosen.”

As Hak holds her hand, he can feel her wedding ring against his skin… and hearing her announce their relationship before the leaders of this country… this is a future he never even dreamed of.

Yona looks forward with confidence -- out of every decision in her life, she's never been so sure about anything as choosing Hak.

Joo-Doh sits there the least shocked, since he already knew, and having known these two since they were very small, he’s even a little touched, “Very well, then as Kyo-Ga said, it’s a short matter of time before this country is in your hands. You’ll need to take residence in the palace. Let’s begin your journey back to Kuuto.”

::-:: Some time later ::-::

Soo-Won wakes in a large, fine room with no idea where he is. It’s peaceful -- quiet, still. And he feels peaceful. The terrible pain in his side and in his heart have both significantly subsided.

He looks down to see he’s in white robes. He sits up with a bit of pain, but he’s eventually able to stand. He walks toward a great window at the end of the room to look out.

Forest. Trees and blue sky as far as he can see. Then down below… a village. With people walking around, also in white with blue details and all white hair. All ages. They look happy. Well.

What culture is this? He turns to investigate the room, but--

“He’s awake!” Three girls in white gowns rush to him and begin offering water, medicine, food, massage, a change of clothes, and even… a girl he could marry? What is this place…?!

As they rush off to get him things, he notices a man in a chair at the end of the room. He has wavy, messy blonde hair that comes down over his eyes.

“Where am I?” Soo-Won asks.

“None of us are supposed to know where this is,” the man responds.

What an unsatisfactory answer… “Who are you?”

“My name is Ik-Soo. I’m here to help you.”