Chapter 217 Dongxue Village Part 19

The drizzle created a beautiful double rainbow hoovering over the mountains, and two rainbow seemed even brighter under the perfect light of the setting sun. Since Sukh and Haneul were very close to the mountain, the drizzle started to get heavier, so Sukh started to walk faster even though his legs were already very tired.

When Sukh came face to face with the opening of the cave, Sukh had to stop and look around. What he saw was dark gray stones, dead trees around the entrance of the cave, and even the only overgrown path leading into the cave made Sukh feel uneasy. The interior of the cave entrance gave Sukh an even creepier feeling because he could see nothing but darkness. He stared at the old path for a while, wondering whether to enter the unknown cave or stay outside in the rain.

As Sukh continued to stare down the old overgrown path, blinding bolts of lightning crackled and struck fallen trees. Sukh was worried that he would be hit by lightning while standing in an open place, so he rushed into the dark cave.

Standing at the dark and dreary entrance of the cave, the only sound Sukh heard was the echo of dripping water from stalactites. The air in the cave was humid and it was difficult to breathe. Sukh could taste the humidity every time he tried to take a deep breath. At this time, flashes of lightning lit up the sky like fireworks; rumbling thunder roared violently, lightning and thunder streaked across the evening sky, and heavy rain accompanied by strong winds struck violently, setting off heavy rain in the mountains.

Sukh placed Haneul on the ground and leaned Haneul against the cave wall. Sukh looked into the dark cave. It was so dark that he could only see a few feet beyond where he was standing, so instead of venturing deeper into the cave, Sukh decided to stay at the entrance. At this time, the rain blocked the only bit of daylight, and he knew that he could not build a bonfire with wet branches, so tonight, Sukh knew that he could not sleep because he did not know what was lurking in the darkness.

Sukh sat on the ground next to Haneul, placing himself between the unknown darkness and Haneul. Sukh reached out and touched Haneul's forehead. Haneul turned to the left and fell into Sukh's arms. Haneul's hands held Sukh's waist tightly.

Hearing the sound of Haneul's chattering teeth, Sukh pushed Haneul away, took off Haneul's clothes, and then took off his clothes. After putting the wet clothes on the ground, Sukh pulled Haneul back into his arms and held Haneul tightly in his arms.

When Haneul's body began to tremble violently in Sukh's arms, Sukh gently kissed the side of Haneul's temple and whispered, "Hold on... just hold on for one night."

Haneul tried to suppress his trembling lips, tried to make the sound of chattering teeth softer, and said weakly, "I always thought I would die gloriously in the battlefield, but...but..." He chuckled lightly. "I can't defeat fate. Fate has already written death for me. It's hard for me to accept that I will die in this smelly cave. But I am still grateful for my cruel fate. At least I can die peacefully in your embrace. My love..."

Sukh said softly, "You won't die. You won't die here..."

Haneul felt his eyes grow heavy with every breath he took. "I'm so tired. My eyes are getting heavy," he whispered. "The warmth in your body makes me want to close my eyes."

Sukh hugged Haneul tighter and said, "Then close your eyes and go to sleep. If you have a good sleep, you will feel better tomorrow."

Haneul took a deep breath and raised his head towards Sukh. He said weakly, "My love...lower your head and kiss me. I'm afraid if I close my eyes, I won't be able to kiss you again."

Sukh said, "No... if you want to kiss me, you must wake up tomorrow. Only then will you be worthy of my kiss. Close your eyes and go to sleep. You will feel better after the fever subsides."

Haneul coughed and asked softly, "Do you still love me?"

Sukh looked at Haneul and replied, "Mm..."

Haneul chuckled, "You are so cruel... How long will you refuse to answer my questions? Even if I am dying, you still refuse to answer my questions or kiss me. Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to kiss me anymore?"

Sukh said firmly, "I am not afraid, are you?"

Haneul murmured, "Very afraid..." and Haneul had to close his eyes because he couldn't keep them open.

After hearing Haneul breathing softly on his chest, Sukh lowered his head and kissed Haneul gently on the lips. He took a deep breath, held Haneul tightly in his arms, and whispered, "My love..." He gently stroked Haneul's face. "Do you know that I am more afraid than you? Because of my love for you, I am afraid of hurting you. Because of my indifference to you, I am afraid of losing you. What I fear most is that the harm I have brought to you and will bring you, will one day leave me with only your cold gaze." He felt his eyes wet with tears, and he pressed a kiss on Haneul's forehead. "A lot of times when you ask me if I still love you, I just reply with a "mm...," which always upsets you, but while my answer isn't the answer you want to hear, but I love you more than the grains of sand in the eastern desert." He smiled at Haneul and gently wiped away his tears on Haneul's face. "And because of this, I can never love another person like the way I love you." He pressed another kiss on Haneul's forehead. "Goodnight, my love."

After a heavy thunderstorm the night before, Sukh was awakened by the sound of birdsong in the morning. Sukh blinked a few times, adjusting to the dawn light that filtered through the clouds. He found himself holding a naked Haneul in his arms. He touched Haneul's forehead and found that Haneul no longer had a fever, so he moved from behind Haneul and pulled Haneul's sleepy body against the cave wall. 

Sukh walked out of the cave without any clothes and found some branches. He knew that the branches he collected were too wet to make a fire, but he wanted to make a clothesline to dry their wet clothes. As Sukh was collecting tree branches, he noticed black smoke rising in the distance. Only then did he realize that there might be a village nearby, so he quickly gathered up the things he needed, walked into the cave, put on his still wet clothes, turned to look at Haneul, and walked out of the cave.

A few hours passed, the dark clouds gradually moved away from the sun, and Haneul finally regained consciousness. He found himself leaning against the cave wall wearing only pants and robe. He found that the main entrance of the cave was blocked by a few logs, and very little light penetrated through the gaps at the top. He looked around the cave, using the little light inside the cave, and found that he was alone in a damp empty cave. He chuckled, feeling silly, wondering about Sukh's final decision to leave him. Haneul reached out, grabbed the remaining clothes and put them on. He thought to himself that if he died, he wants to look his best. After putting on his clothes, the warmth brought him some energy, but the energy he gained could not push away the wood blocking the hole. After several failed attempts, he decided to lean against the cave and soon fell asleep again. Haneul didn't know how long he fell asleep again, but when he woke up again, he found himself staring at Sukh, who was roasting something by the campfire a few feet away from him.

"You have decided to leave me," Haneul said feeling a bit upset. "Why come back?"

"Are you hungry?" Sukh asked, looking at the roasted chicken.

"Answer my question," Haneul shouted, noticing that Sukh didn't turn to look at him as he spoke. "Look at me when you talk."

Sukh sighed and looked at Haneul. "I didn't leave you; I just went out to find food," he said. "Are you hungry?"

Haneul breathed angrily through his nostrils and replied, "No."

"Eat first," Sukh said, placing a roast chicken on a banana leaf in front of Haneul.

"I told you I'm not hungry." Haneul angrily knocked the roasted chicken on the banana leaf with his hand.

Sukh watched as the roasted chicken rolled to the ground a few yards away from where Haneul sat. He stood up, grabbed another clean chicken, put the clean chicken on the banana leaf, and said, "People often get angry when their stomachs are empty."

Haneul stared at Sukh and said madly, "You know the reason why I am angry, and you also know very well that my anger has nothing to do with whether I am hungry or not."

Sukh said, "Eat first. When I went looking for food, I found farmland, so there must be a village nearby." He was worried that Haneul would knock over the food, so he picked up the chicken and tore off a piece of meat from the chicken fed it to Haneul. "Food is hard to find and not endless like in the palace, so don't throw away food."

Haneul slowly chewed the meat in his mouth and looked at Sukh. "I think I prefer eating your flesh," he said, glaring at Sukh.

Sukh tore off another piece of meat and fed it to Haneul. He asked calmly, "If we can't longer find food, which piece of my body would your Highness want to eat?"

Haneul poked Sukh's chest and said with gnashing teeth, "How about your heart? I really want to see if your heart is made of flesh or iron, and whether your heart taste sweet or bitter."

Sukh replied, "When His Highness reclaim Tanzang and His title, I will dig it out if His Highness still wishes to eat my heart."

Haneul grabbed Sukh's collar angrily. "You..." he gnashed his teeth. "Don't challenge my anger."

Sukh tore off another piece of meat and fed it to Haneul. Haneul quickly grabbed the back of Sukh's head and kissed Sukh forcefully. Sukh turned his face away, but Haneul's hand gripped the back of Sukh's head. Haneul put his forehead against Sukh's forehead. "Remember, you are mine and mine only. In life or in death, you belong to me," Haneul whispered with gritted teeth. "So next time if you're going somewhere, I have to know."

"Yes, Your Highness," Sukh said. 

Sukh learned early on that Haneul could become very possessive when Sukh was involved. Haneul craves Sukh's attention like children crave sweets. Sukh knew that this was why the Eighth King asked him to take a blood oath, fearing that Haneul's possessiveness of Sukh would lead to Haneul's downfall.

Sukh knew what to say without irritating Haneul further. He knew Haneul's biggest pet peeve was when he used royal terms when speaking to Haneul. "Do you want to eat by yourself, or do you want me to continue feeding you?" Sukh asked.

Haneul scoffed at Sukh and said, "I'd rather you keep feeding me, but with your mouth instead of your hands." Haneul smirked. "Or I could feed you with my mouth." He grabbed Sukh's hand holding the chicken. He took a bite, kissed Sukh, and then passed the piece of chicken from his mouth to Sukh's.