(Y/N)'s POV
As I was humming my song, I could feel that the bag I was in moved by a sudden impact. I stopped humming loudly as I could hear the voices of the bastards, but the voice that stood out to me was the familiar one that was opening my bag. I only hoped in my mind that it was the person I was trying to send the message. I could see that my bag was opening, I started to see the light and tried to adjust to it as quickly as possible. When I could see clearly, I immediately gave the most harshest glare I could muster up in my present state, but I soon replaced it with a look of relief when I see Hak. I started to give a small smile to my savior that me and Yona were finally free. He saw my wet state and how messy my (F/C) kimono was on me. He started to have a dark aura around him and turned to the large dark skinned man.

"You can't take these luggage." Hak darkly stated before kicking the man on the jaw and landing perfectly on the ground.

I didn't pay attention to the fight as my attention was on Yona. I scooted my way out of the hole in front of me, being able to raise my arms up so that my knees weren't pressed up to my chest anymore. My raised arms were above me, making sure that my elbows were directed to each side of my body, I then swiftly pulled it down to my sides and was able to snap the thin piece of cloth that was used to tie my wrists together. I looked around the cart to see a crate behind me that wasn't locked up, I crawled towards it and lifted the lid up and saw Yona asleep inside of it. I smiled as I pulled her up in a sitting position and removed the cloth around her mouth. Her eyes fluttered open, instantly turning into panicked eyes.

"S-Soo-won! Hak! (Y-"

"Are you alright Yona?" I asked the panicked Princess with concern in my own eyes.

"(Y/N)!" I became wide eyed when I sensed Yona hugging me, I could feel her cry onto my shoulder as she hugged me tightly with the intention of not letting go for a while.

I smiled at Yona and hugged her back, the tears starting to make their way down my cheeks as I realized that we were finally safe from anything bad that could've happened to us...

"Okay, Yona. I'm going to go help Hak. So go to Soo-won, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you safe." I pulled out of the hug, feeling her hesistance when I let go.

I quickly untied the cloth wrapped around my ankles. I only gave Yona-hime a reassuring smile afterwards as I carefully went down the cart. I could see that the person that I tried to burn alive from before was just standing near the cart, watching his partner with a knife in his hand trying to attack Hak, but I could already see Gramps marching his way to them. I chuckled at the sight of his new set of clothes, it'll sure be fun to see him use his money on new clothes again because of me. But since there are other people here, I can't afford to give away my powers.

"Excuse me sir, I think there's dirt on your clothes." I told the male scum bag as I was standing beside him.

It made me have a huge smile on my face to see his expression of confusion turn into pure shock. When I 'innocently' reached out to touch his clothes on the supposed dirt on it, he immediately booked it to go behind him straight into a crowd of people.

"Waah!" He ran off screaming, making some people look at him like he was a crazy person.

I wasn't shocked at the reactions of the people amongst us, since I too would be confused as to why a grown man was scared of a innocent and smiling girl that obviously had no power to attack the male. It made me even more happy when Joo-doh stood in front of him in the parted crowd, both his swords unsheated and ready to attack the man that kidnapped the Princess and myself. He is such an idiot, he forgot that the oil was still on my whole body. So in other words if I at least tried to heat up my hands, I might burn myself alive first before I could take him down with me.

"(Y/N)..." I froze in place when I could sense the dark presence near me.

I turned around to see Gramps looming over me with a worried Hak in his grasp, holding him by the back of his clothes.

"U-Uh- Hi G-Gramps!" I made a convincing smile, that I'm sure would've have looked like a nervous grin to anyone.

"You better have a good explanation on why you're here." Gramps said as his scary aura turned darker.

"W-Well, you s-see; me and the Princes were kinda and maybe got, u-um- kidnapped by bad men."

I started to shrink in size when I saw how angry Gramps became at what I said. He then placed Hak beside me as he glared down on the two of us, making me more scared and guilty of him.

"I-I'm s-sorry for making you worry about us Gramps, we just wanted to cheer Yona up by taking her into town. We didn't know it would end up like this..." I said loud enough for Gramps and Hak to hear, I just looked away from Gramps's intense stare from guilt.

I could hear Gramps give out a long sigh, making me turn to look at him again to see a serious look adjourned his face.

"Hak, you should go with Soo-won to help the Princess and (Y/N) get treated." Gramps said as he faced Hak that had been silently concerned and nervous for himself since Gramps dragged him to me.

"What about you? Aren't you coming with us?"

"I'm going to help deliver these bastards to the dungeons." Gramps said as he cracked his knuckles with a dark and scary expression back on his face, making me almost feel bad for the trash that kidnapped me and Yona-hime.

"But Gramps-" I tried to speak but was cut off by him.

"Just go get treated (Y/N), I will meet you both at the gates. We are continuing this later." Gramps sent us a warning glare, making me shut up and just nod.

"Come on (Y/N), let's go." Hak said as he instantly pulled me away.

We walked to Yona's and Soo-won's directions before I turned around to see Gramps going towards the kidnapper with a menacing aura around him. I shuddered as I looked away, afraid of what I was going to see if I kept staring back.

3rd POV
Hak was walking towards their two other companions with (Y/N) that was slightly limping in her step; her ankles were tied up so tightly that purple bruises were already there to give her a hard time walking back again. Hak had to slow down his speed when he saw (Y/N)'s way of walking, in which he was thanked for by the young girl. It made the (H/C)ette smile when she saw her two best friends converse with themselves, because they were still able to have a smile of their own in times like these. It just took them at least a whole five minutes to stand in front of each other and be together as a group again. (Y/N) gave the two a reassuring smile, that didn't even worked when they started to look distraught at her current state.

"Oh my- Are you alright (Y/N)?!" The young Princess panicked when she saw that (Y/N) wasn't even able to walk correctly.

"I'm fine Yona-"

"You clearly aren't!"

"I'm feeling fine Yona-hime, it's just that the bruises on my body already formed by being tied up earlier..."

The three didn't press on, seeing that the (H/C) haired female's happy face turned into one of sorrow and fear that wasn't that obvious if you didn't try to read her clearly. An uncomfortable silence was in the air, but was quickly removed by the dark blonde haired boy speaking up.

"I'm sorry to ask but why do you smell like you've been drenched in fish oil (Y/N)?" Soo-won pointed out to the group, making the two other children agree once they realized what he said.

"I actually thought that it was just me, but when I ripped your bag open- it was already drenched in oil too." Hak also pointed out, trying to get answers from (Y/N).

"I was also surprised to see that your bag was drenched in it, while they didn't even tried to pour even a little bit of it on me."

They all started to give (Y/N) weird and questioning looks, because it was weird and unusual to the children why someone even took the time to get so much fish oil to just dump it on a child. It especially made Yona confused because like what she said, even a droplet wasn't used on her and only on (Y/N).

"I don't want you guys to worry more-"

"We are already worried (Y/N)."

"It'll be hard to do that now that you're trying to avoid the question."

"What they did just doesn't make sense at all..."

"You guys really want to know?" (Y/N) gave them a very serious expression, somewhat shocking the gang that she had suddenly became serious over a matter that was ridiculous to them.

"Yes." They all told her in sync, giving (Y/N) a look that said they really wanted to know.

"They...oil...in case...able...bag, they...to...alive." (Y/N) quietly said to them, so quiet that they weren't able to hear her say everything clearly.

"Could you repeat that (Y/N)?"

"I was sure that the wind was louder than you."

"What did you say-"

"They were dumping fish oil on me in case I was able to escape from my bag, they were planning to burn me alive!" She said loud enough for all of them to not miss a word she said.

They were all shocked at the information she told them, none of them expecting an answer like that to come out of her.

"I was able to know since he kept threatening me with it, telling me what I just told you guys..."

(Y/N) was pretty sad about what she said, it was because of the fact she knew they really are going to get more concerned for her. But she was mostly sad that she couldn't tell them the truth, that two strangers found out her powers and that she almost burned alive someone as well. She wasn't ready to tell them about that part of herself yet, it would be too soon.

The three children didn't say a word for a while, they were too busy processing the fact that she basically said the kidnapper was ready to burn her alive. The three of them started to become more worried at what they realized; even if (Y/N) and Yona-hime were to find out an escape route, they would immediately burn (Y/N) alive. So if Hak and Soo-won didn't found them in time, it was likely to happen that they would be either; sold off to the Kai Empire, or that one of them, or even both, could be burnt to ashes.

"To be honest, it's actually scary to think that just one wrong move- I could end up dead because I just tried to escape." (Y/N) gave out a dry laugh as she looked at the three.

They gave (Y/N) worried faces when they kept staring at her, knowing that she's trying to make a joke so she wouldn't think about the danger she just pointed out.

"(Y/N)..." Soo-won pointed to her cheeks, making the young girl realize that the tears she tried to prevent were able to escape.

(Y/N) rubbed the tears away with her sleeves, giving them a wide smile afterwards to reassure them. The last thing she want is their sympathy for her weaknesses. (Y/N) tried to come up with an excuse or even change the topic, so it made her relieved to see Joo-doh appear in front of them.

"I was informed on what had happened here. Princess and you, I am both taking you to the doctors to get examined if there are any injuries on you. After that, the two of you will follow me to give me a clear and honest explanation of everything that went on today. Am I clear?" Joo-doh asked sternly with an annoyed expression on his face, making the group give a short nod of agreement since no one wanted him to become even more angry.

The group quietly followed the Joo-doh to the way back to the castle on foot. (Y/N) had a sad and fearful look on her face as she was walking, not noticing that the two male children were worried that she looked so scared after what she experienced with the Princess. (Y/N) knew that her friends are going to get unnecessarily worried for her, something she didn't wanted which was being a burden to them. While (Y/N) didn't know that the three were thinking of ways to tell her their sorrys and how to cheer her up, knowing that she was becoming more sad by what has already been happening. But what they all had in common was that they are individually blaming themselves for the incident that had happened that day.

•
•
•

(Y/N), Hak, and Soo-won were just by the walls that separated Hiryuu Castle to the outside world. After (Y/N) and Yona-hime got treated, Yona was sent to be with the worried King Il while they were watching over her even more. (Y/N) had some minor injuries on her, in which she also didn't know where she got it from, she just assumed that they punched her in places where people wouldn't notice out of anger. Hak was sitting on top of the wall that was almost the same height as the Princess, Soo-won was leaning his back on the wall by Hak's right side, and (Y/N) was the same like Soo-won but she was just sitting on the floor on the left side of Hak; being careful to not get more dirt on her clothes, since the King was kind enough to make her take a bath and give her new clothes after what happpened.

"You also got yelled at?" Hak asked the blonde beside him, as they were conversing with each other.

They were also able to tell (Y/N) what happened to them when they were kidnapped, making the (H/C) head amazed at both Soo-won and Hak at what they did to try and help them.

"Yeah... It even looked like Mr. Joo-doh grew horns." Soo-won said with a happy smile still on his face, making the two laugh at his answer.

"But King Il was extremely flustered." (Y/N) pointed out to the group, making the two boys nod in agreement.

"I guess it's not unreasonable. It hasn't been a long time since the Queen passed away." Hak placed his elbow on his lap, his chin on his right hand palm.

This made (Y/N) remember the time when Yona was crying to her, mourning over the loss of her mother to her privately. (Y/N) knew that Yona-hime was trying to act and look strong to her father, but she broke down in front of (Y/N) when she confronted her about it.

"It's going to be even harder for Yona to go outside." Soo-won said seriously as he stared down on the floor, knowing that he was the person that suggested them to go outside.

"It's my responsibility."

"Nah, it's mine."

"Are you boys forgetting that I'm the one that noticed Yona went missing? I let the Princess get into danger. It's definitely obvious that we wouldn't be able to enter the Castle anymore."

"No way!" Soo-won shouted to the two, making them sweat drop at his determined face.

"The King and Yona both love you two! There's no way they would do that!"

"I dunno about the Princess..."

"Both of you do always bicker."

"No one asked (Y/N)."

"If there's a person that would say you should leave, I would persuade them!"

The two cousins looked at their best friend, shocked at what he said. They then remembered what Soo-won did earlier, making them smile at the blondie.

"...You're pretty amazing." Hak smiled as he stared down on the floor, (Y/N) also had a smile on her face as she hummed in agreement at Hak's statement.

"Huh?" Soo-won was clearly confused at their expressions.

"To be able to get those guys to ally, and be so open about it. It's amazing." Hak stared at the starry sky, recollecting the moment of Soo-won's serious face when he asked Ogi to lend him his strength.

"It's kind of like, you were the...heart of the town." (Y/N) told Soo-won with confidence in what she said.

"It wasn't..." Soo-won looked away from the two at he just stared at the night sky, smiling to himself.

"It's because you were there Hak."

"Huh...?" Hak was really confused at what he heard, (Y/N) just listening quietly at their little moment.

"You're always so strong, Hak. Dependable, and cool." Soo-won smiled when the memory of Hak when his face was drenched in sake by Ogi's outburst.

"I wanted to be like you. After seeing you, I wanted to get closer to you. I wanted to become more like you. I always think that." Soo-won then extended his arm so that his palm was in front of Hak's face, making the other two shocked and confused at the gesture.

"It's so frustrating. Even though we're so close... I don't feel like I can reach you at all. Hak, you are my goal."

Hak and (Y/N) were surprised at Soo-won, Hak being more so than (Y/N). Hak's bangs covered his eyes, the expression on his face was unreadable.

"...Hak?" (Y/N) spoke up, she couldn't tell what's on Hak's mind, making her worried on what he'll do.

Because of this, (Y/N) stared dumbfounded at Hak when he started to ruffle Soo-won's hair.

'Boys. I can never understand them.' (Y/N) gave an annoyed sigh, smiling afterwards as she observed their idiotic cuteness.

"What are you doing, Hak~?" Soo-won tried to fix his messy hair as he watched Hak jump down on the ground in front of him.

"Your goal is too small." Hak said as he stood tall while trying to act tough, making (Y/N) snicker at their situation.

"If you're reaching something, go for the heavens."

"You are my goal." Soo-won said, still determined as ever to get his point across.

(Y/N) had enough of her own silence, she stood up from the floor to stand in front of them. She playfully hit the backside of their heads.

"Ow! That hurt (Y/N)!" Soo-won whined as he rubbed his head.

"Why did you do that for?!" Hak stated in irritation as he gave a weak glare at the girl.

(Y/N) ignored their complains as she took both of their hands, the two worried that she was going to break it next for some unknown reason. When each of their hand was on her own, she made their extended palms touch the other male's one.

"The goal you may be seeking isn't that far from your grasp Soo-won, but you still have to work hard for it. Even though you can't see the goal that Soo-won wants in you Hak, you are great enough to be his goal and that's what matters." (Y/N) said as she let go of their hands, making them return to their sides.

Hak stared at his friend, surprised at her choice of words to them both. Soo-won looked at (Y/N) with a bright smile on his face, happy to hear her words of encouragement for them.

"You're as stupid as him to believe that." Hak said as he looked away from the girl to avoid her to see his embarrassed face.

"Don't listen to him Soo-won, he's just grumpy because he hasn't gotten to eat dinner yet." (Y/N) started to fix Soo-won's hair, the said male thanking her as he was smiling at her kindness.

'He is a noble. He can also move many different kinds of people. He's an amazing guy with a ton of power.' Hak stared at Soo-won and (Y/N), seeing them laugh as they talked to each other.

'Someone like him is...looking at me.' Hak thought as he remembered how Soo-won looked at him when he spoke highly of him.

"(Y/N), we better go to Gramps now before he gets mad." Hak turned with his arms behind his back.

"Wait- what?" (Y/N) was confused at Hak, not because he just suddenly wanted to leave, but because something felt different about him to (Y/N).

"I want to go home to get some training from Gramps, then I'll study."

"Wow, you're making me feel bad because of your sense of responsibility." (Y/N) nervously laughed as she now thinks that she has to train because Hak wanted to do so.

'I can't be like this. I need to become someone worthy of your goal.' Hak thought while he started to walk away from the two, making (Y/N) panic at him suddenly leaving her.

(Y/N) gave a clumsy bow at Soo-won as she apologized for leaving already, but Soo-won just smiled at her and told her it was alright while giving her a goodbye. (Y/N) waved at Soo-won before trying to reach Hak that was already many feet away from them, which was hard for her because of the bruises on her ankles and foot from earlier.

'So that from now on, we can walk as equals.' Hak smiled to himself as he stopped his tracks, waiting for (Y/N) to catch up with him so he can help her walk, just like before.

Soo-won smiled at his best friends as he watched them go, he was happy to wait for them again to play with him and Yona-hime. So that they could enjoy each other's company and be happy together as a group.

•
•
•

Time went by slowly for the two as they were getting closer to the Castle Gates. Hak was helping (Y/N) to walk as he had his right arm over her shoulder, as (Y/N)'s arm was on Hak's waist. (Y/N) gave almost all of her weight this time to Hak because she was just so tired from the whole day, wanting this day to just end already. Hak didn't mind because (Y/N) wasn't that heavy for him, he actually suggested to carry her on his back. But (Y/N) being (Y/N), refused to do so because she didn't want to burden him, even though he told her multiple times that she was light enough for him to carry her without complaining too much. After a couple more minutes, they finally saw Mun-deok waiting for them beside a horse with a leash that's connected to his hand. As soon as they saw themselves nearing, (Y/N) removed herself from Hak's hold while she thanked him. (Y/N) slowly walked over to Mun-deok to see his angry face at the sight of them.

"Why did you get kidnapped (Y/N)?! I even told you both to stay in the Castle until the Five Tribe Meeting was over! You have almost gotten yourself killed or gravely injured, you're lucky that you're calling yourself alive. Can't you even listen to a small request like that?!" Mun-deok huffed as he glared down on the (H/C) haired female, making her more scared and guilty of him.

"But I did it to make Yona-hime happy, she hasn't seen the outside of the castle. I wanted to make her happy by accepting her request. I'm sorry if I worried you, I didn't mean to get kidnapped. I tried protect Yona from those men, but I was too weak and I couldn't do anything but hope to get help. I'm sorry if you're mad at me." (Y/N) said sadly as she looked at ground with a look of shame on her face.

Before hearing a loud sigh, (Y/N) looked up and saw Mun-deok starting to talk.

"I'm not mad, I was just worried that you won't come back to me. I promised your parents to protect you as a guardian and your Gramps. I wouldn't know what I'd do if I lost you, (Y/N)." Mun-deok said after he bent down to her height and placed his hands on her shoulders, making (Y/N) look up at him with a smile.

"I will not do anything like that again without thinking first on the consequences. I promise that to you Gramps." (Y/N) said before straightening herself and saw Mun-deok with a small smile on his face as he nodded at her while he got ready to get his grandchildren on the horse with him.

(Y/N) glanced at Hak and noticed that he just stared blankly at the sky, she frowned at the thought of him feeling left out, the feeling she was very familiar with. She went to Hak and held his hand before he looked at her with confusion. (Y/N) just giggled and dragged him to Mun-deok's horse.

Hak's POV
I watched their conversation take fold as I just stared at the stars when Gramps got down on his knees. I'm sure that Gramps would want to talk to me and (Y/N) about everything when we get back home, but he should at least acknowledge the fact that (Y/N)'s clearly tired and he can talk to me too and not just pressure (Y/N) to speak. I kicked a small rock in frustration of the thoughts going on in my head.

A couple of minutes passed as I felt a hand hold mine, I knew who it was and looked at the (H/C) haired girl with confusion as to why she was holding my hand. She just giggled and dragged me to the horse, without even explaining her giddiness to me. We climbed the black horse, and sat on its saddle. It still surprises me how we can all fit on the horse without being squished together tightly. Gramps then started making the horse run to the direction of our tribe. There was just only silence in the air as it had only been a few minutes since we left, but the reticence was gone when (Y/N) spoke up.

"Why did you guys accepted me in your group." She asked in a hushed tone with confusion and a tinge of sadness as she looked at me.

I was confused at why she brought it up, it had been a year since we all met; yet she was still questioning why. I chose to ignore it and just gave my answer.

"We accepted you because we trust you in our group, and we knew that you are a kind person when we saw you, even if your face said otherwise." I seriously said as she covered her mouth when she yawned.

"I'm happy to hear that answer, but I don't know if I can agree on you with my face. I'm just going to close my eyes for a bit and pretend that I didn't heard that last part." She said as she yawned and closed her eyes while she placed her head on my chest.

I stiffened at the contact but soon relaxed when I saw (Y/N)'s peaceful face, she was finally able to rest from the exhausting day she had experienced.

"You can rest, but I'm not going to carry you back." I said but knew that she was asleep when she didn't answer me.

I smiled at her before fixing her into a more comfortable position, while making sure that she wouldn't accidentally fall from the saddle as she was sleeping. It's going to be funny to see (Y/N)'s face when I lie to her that she fell off the horse face first to the ground, that she was too asleep to even notice it. I laughed at my own thought as I recalled something.

"You're not the only one that's sacrificing." I said as I gently brushed the hair on her face away from her eyes, careful not to make her wake up.

I just gave a small smile as she hugged my arm that was holding her in place so she wouldn't actually fall. I held her hands that didn't have the (F/C) elbow length gloves I gave her close to me so the chances of her actually falling lessened. I'll just ask her what happened to it when we get back and she wakes up.

You're not alone, and you will always have us. So don't think that you are going to suffer alone. I smiled sadly at the short sleeping figure and kept my gaze on the road. Will you accept me to sacrifice my life for yours? The sound of the horses steps were the only thing that was breaking the comfortable quietness. I chuckled when (Y/N) started to mumble different varieties of food in her sleep. She really is something...

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Published:
5/28/20

It's sad that the gloves were in the Book for only one chapter- *^*

But if you're asking why she's still wearing them even if she doesn't have the scars anymore, it's because it is the first gift that Hak gave her. A gift that showed her she wasn't going to be alone anymore.

Please give me feedback by voting or commenting, it helps me sleep at night- I mean it helps me know what you think of the chapters and it lets me know if you're enjoying it. Here's an icecream if you've already done that: 🍦

Remember to stay safe (especially in these times), sleep well, and keep shining my lovely starlights!