Chapter 45 Red Winter Part 11

After searching every house and tent inside and outside the camp and failing to find Sukh, Haneul gathered the remaining Kukungga to the training camp and made the Kukungga stand late at night until he was told of Sukh's whereabouts, but since the Kukungga did not know where Sukh might have gone, they could not provide Haneul with answers to his satisfaction, so he ordered his soldiers to guard the people and not let them rest.

Just before the sun went down, Sukh finally approached the camp. He saw the Kukungga people standing in a row like a group of prisoners of war. As soon as the people of Kukungga saw Sukh approaching, their eyes lit up with anger. Then, when Sukh approached an older Kukungga woman, she spat at Sukh.

"Murderer," she whispered through gritted teeth. "Shameless murderer."

Then, the people closest to Sukh started spitting on Sukh, but Sukh put his head down and let them keep spitting on him.

Four soldiers rushed in, yelling at the Kukungga. "Stop your actions at this moment, otherwise..."

The old woman said, "Otherwise what? You are going to kill us? Kill us since you've already killed many of our family members. We have nothing to fear anymore."

Sukh said, "Let it go. They are still in grief."

The soldiers said, "Yes, Great Grand General…"

Sukh asked, "Where is His Majesty?"

A soldier said, "His Majesty is resting in your tent."

Sukh thanked the soldiers and moved towards his personal tent.

Haneul was inside Sukh's private tent when a guard rushed in. "Your Majesty," the guard knelt. "Great Grand General Bayarmaa is back."

Haneul stood up abruptly. "Where is he?" Haneul asked.

The guard said, "He is coming with other soldiers."

Haneul walked out of the tent quickly and met Sukh. He rushed over and grabbed Sukh's hands. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. "Did Keme hurt you?"

Sukh said, "Godfather didn't hurt me. I just came from the capital."

Haneul asked puzzledly, "You came from the capital?"

Sukh nodded. "This time, you are too reckless..." He took his hand away from Haneul and walked into his tent.

Haneul said, "No one can enter the tent without my permission."

Soldiers, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Haneul lowered the curtain to cover the door. When he looked sideways, Sukh had already taken off his clothes. He hurriedly ran to Sukh and asked, "Are you taking a bath?"

Sukh didn't speak but nodded towards Haneul.

Haneul knew that Sukh was angry with him, so he tried not to provoke Sukh. He touched the water, which seemed to have grown cold. "Let me tell them to change the water," Haneul said.

Sukh said, "No need... During the years I have been stationed here, the water for bathing has always been cold." He looked at Haneul. "Want to take a bath with me?"

Haneul smiled and said, "Yes." He quickly took off his armor and got into the tub with Sukh.

Sukh said, "Turn around, I'll wash your hair."

Haneul said, "Sukh, I know you are angry with me, but this time I am worried about you. I caught an assassin, and she said, Chief Keme captured you and asked the mages to lock you in a magic cell. Please forgive me I... don't be angry with me..."

Sukh said, "Haneul...I'm not mad at you...let us learn from this reckless action. In the future you must promise that you will not be so unscrupulous again."

Haneul turned and took Sukh's hand. "I promise it won't happen again."

Sukh stroked Haneul's face and said, "I don't want anyone to say that my perfect king is a treacherous king. I want everyone to praised and love you as much as I do." He smiled at Haneul.

Haneul pulled Sukh into his arms and hugged Sukh tightly. "I admit I was wrong this time...I let my anger make me do something unforgivable, but I did it because I cared so much about you...I can't imagine living a life without you by my side."

Sukh smiled at Haneul and kissed Haneul lightly on the lips. "Whatever you do in the future, you have to make sure that the decisions you make do not harm innocent people, and or bring as little harm to the people as possible."

Haneul said, "I promised."

Sukh didn't sleep at all, at four o'clock in the morning, Sukh kissed Haneul's forehead lightly, and pulled the thin blanket over Haneul's body. He put on his shoes slowly, trying not to make any noise. He walked to the door, turned around and took one last look at Haneul for one last time. He murmured, "Haneul, I use my whole life to repay you back for your bowl of rice. In return, you love me unconditionally. From now on, we will not owe each other anymore." He walked out the door.

Sukh walked along the riverbank but did not see any corpses in the river. He sat by the river, staring at the river; although the bodies of the Kukungga had been submerged at the bottom of the river, the river was still red with the blood of the Kukungga from the day before.

Sukh sighed, when he stood up, his left calf felt sore. He walked slowly into the river, and the more he walked into the river, the more sore his calves became.

A guard rushed into the tent suddenly and found Haneul still sleeping on the bed. The guard raised his voice. "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

Haneul woke up slowly and sat on the edge of the bed. He turned to look for Sukh, only to find that he was the only one sleeping on the bed.

Haneul frowned, "What's wrong?"

The guard said, "Your Majesty, someone saw Great Grand General leave the training camp."

Haneul stood up, grabbed his robe, and put on his shoes. "Where did he go?" he asked.

The guard said, "Great Grand General has gone to the river."

Haneul drove his horse back to the river, followed by the palace guards and some soldiers.

Haneul saw Sukh walking into the river, he whipped his horse vigorously, making his horse run towards Sukh faster. Haneul had no intention of stopping his horse by the river. Haneul looked at Sukh and called out, "Sukh, come back…"

Sukh heard Haneul's voice, but he made up his mind and continued walking deeper towards the middle of the river.

Seeing that Haneul wanted to ride his horse down the river, Sukh said, "Don't take a step closer to me."

Haneul said, "Okay, but come back. You say you forgive me."

Sukh said, "I forgive you, but I can't forgive myself. I'm the one who led these people to die so tragically. I'm the one who will bring your downfall."

Haneul said, "Nonsense…come out of the river."

Sukh said, "Haneul, it's true. Your concern for me has blinded you and created an opportunity for others to use your hand to kill Chief Keme and his mages."

Haneul said, "I knew it was my fault. I swore I would change myself and I would never let this happen again. I have apologized to the Kukungga people both living and dead."

Sukh said coldly, "Haneul, you know what, an apology doesn't change anything. An apology doesn't reverse the actions or correct the damage that has been done. An apology is just nice words to hear."

Haneul said, "I can explain, but first get out of the water. If you don't come out, I will come in and pull you out."

Sukh shouted angrily, "Don't come into the river!" He raised the knife to his neck. "If you come, I will kill myself in front of you."

Haneul said, "Okay...you are angry, put down the knife, I won't go into the water."

Sukh looked at the red river, and the suddenly dead Kukungga suddenly floated beside him. He looked at Haneul and asked, "If you know I'm hurt, do you worry about me?"

Haneul said, "I do."

Sukh asked, "When you know I'm gone, will you miss me?"

Haneul said, "Come out of the water and we can talk for as long as you want."

Sukh shouted angrily, "Answer the question!"

Haneul said, "I do. If you are not with me, I will miss you, worry about you until I see you. Get out of the water now."

Sukh looked at Haneul with tears in his eyes. "Do you think these dead family members will miss them too?"

Haneul didn't answer, but he dismounted anyway.

Sukh shouted, "Don't move."

Haneul said, "If you don't want me to move, you just get out of the water."

"It's not fair for them to sleep in this icy cold river they built to protect you when you're sleeping in a warm, soft bed," Sukh said, diving into the river.

Haneul quickly jumped off his horse and ran into the river full of dead people. The palace guards quickly chased after him.

Under the water, Sukh opened his eyes, he only saw red. He put the knife to his throat, and the sharp knife cut across his neck. He closed his eyes.

Haneul grabbed Sukh's body and pulled him out of the river before realizing that Sukh was choked up in his throat and was dying. He hurriedly dragged Sukh to the river and held Sukh in his arms.

"You promised to be with me forever," Haneul cried. "I order you not to die."

Sukh wanted to open his mouth but couldn't make a sound, so he could only forcefully write two words on the sand beside him. He looked at Haneul, smiled at Haneul, then closed his eyes and died in Haneul's arms.

Haneul was crying his heart out, he felt empty, as if his world no longer made sense and wasn't worth living in, and at that moment he finally understood why Chief Keme committed suicide.

Haneul reached out to hold Sukh's hand and found the two words written by Sukh before he died. He cried hysterically. "Ha…ha…ha…" he hugged Sukh tightly inside his arms. "I promise… "I promise... I'll be as good a king as you've always wanted me to be."