Chapter 341 - Spider’s Web-I

Haneul's heart thumped aloud, the distance and never could she forgot the words that left his lips. She doubted her ears for times, and her head cannot help but repeat what he said over and over as if she was living for that moment.

It took her a while of staring and gazing at his eyes until her words finally spilled from her pursed lips, "W-What did you say?"

Min Hyuk knew that Haneul had listened to him well. Well enough for her eyes that looked back at him to turn wide and glassy. The room had barely light to help them look at their surrounding and make the objects beside them. Disregarding the darkness, the closure they shared helped them to be able to see each other for the better. Instead, it felt as though they could see more within the darkness.

"I know you heard me," he whispered, his voice low, and letting his nose descend next to her neck, Min Hyuk could smell her lovely scent.

"You know that wasn't what I wanted to ask," Haneul said, her eyes looking at him with a fragile courage. "Tell me the truth. Why do you want to protect me?"

Min Hyuk stared at her, his red eyes glowed in the darkness that could taunt others but Haneul didn't feel his gaze to be daunting. She discerned his gaze to be serious while watching her and she didn't know what part of her face that caused him to look that serious.

"Is it because you see me like your little sister?" Haneul mustered another question. It was one of the questions she had wanted to ask him. While she loved Min Hyuk as a man, she had seen and heard people who sees their childhood friend more like sibling than an actual love interest, something which wasn't what Haneul was hoping for.

"Little sister?" Min Hyuk questioned with a low smile. "If I see you as my little sister, for sure I would have done what I did now to stop you from working for the Queen, but you know that isn't the reason why I did this, Haneul. What do you see me as?"

Haneul pursed her lips again at how Min Hyuk had cleverly pushed aside her question and instead had her answer his question. 

"You are not answering to my question," said Haneul, her eyebrows knotting to a frown as she felt as if she was being played. "What do you want from me?" She tried to sound strong but at the end of her words, her voice quivered in hope and desperation.

Min Hyuk who had settled his hand on his side, slowly brushes his fingers to her hand that was splayed on the floor behind her. He slipped his fingers beneath hers, slowly then grasping her whole palm and placing his five other fingers in the gaps before pulling the same hand beside her face.

Haneul's eyes widened, the position they were at were not only close but scandalous and provocative. If someone or her mother was to see how they were now, no doubt would she yelled in anger and dash to separate them but that was the least of Haneul's current worry. It was the distance of their lips that continue to make her feel dizzy. His scent and how strong his fingers were on her hands reminded her again of his manliness. 

A little push was what it need for their lips to touch.

"There is nothing that I want from you," Min Hyuk then answered and Haneul felt her heart sink until it was lifted up when she heard the rest of his words, "For I want all of you."

Haneul fell on a sudden speechlessness. In her mind she questioned whether she could take this as his confession. Though he uttered no words of love his entire speech contain nothing but the ardent feeling which she also shared for him. 

She felt her gaze that stared at Min Hyuk's red ones were sucked. As if she had been entranced, all she could do was stare while feeling how all her senses turn numb. Like her, Min Hyuk also stared at her, slowly his head leaning forward for their lips to brush. 

His parted lips touched like a brush of feather when all of a sudden a knock rang on the other side of the door. 

The knock brought Haneul from her drunkness on him. They stared at each other, this time with surprise and startle as an unwanted guest had came in between their talk.

None of them spoke until the third person who stood outside the door stated to himself, "I would be in trouble. Where the catalyst Lady might be? She doesn't know how the Queen is searching for her to every corner of the palace."

Another voice then came from outside, "Eunuch Ong, if you are searching for Lady Sol, I saw her left to the Bongguak Garden, I reckon that she seem to be wanting a fresh breath of air."

"Oh!" The eunuch who stood on the door responded and came quickly to the man who had helped him. "Thank you, sir for the information. I will be sure to come and thank you again once I found the lady," and the other man nodded.

Haneul breathed out in relief that the Eunuch didn't come to her room uninvited. If he did and found her together with Min Hyuk in this position, she couldn't imagine what would happen after. 

In the kingdom an unmarried woman alone with a man had never been accepted well, worse, the kingdom had a rule where the woman would be parade through the town naked along with the man for being a shame. She didn't know whether the punishment was still taken but there was once in the past where Haneul had seen it happen. Now that she remembered the woman was the Queen's cousin who then was beheaded a week after the accident.

Min Hyuk sighed, a heavy sigh which she cannot mistaken. Does he felt like her, disappointed that someone had disturbed them?

She then feel his grip loosened on her hands, taking one step backward for her to take a better look at his figure and his handsome face that dropped down with a darkness. He looked at the door next to him, at the position where the Eunuch once stood at before clicking his tongue, the irritation he showed had her happy. Happy, because she wasn't the only one that was upset but then shyness was quick to turn her cheeks red. 

"I will talk to the Queen," Min Hyuk said, bringing back their initial reason for discussion.

Haneul was quick to frown, "No," she admonished, "I have make my choice, Hyuk, I will be fine and safe. The Queen wouldn't be able to hurt me and you have seen it... that power which I held during the hunting game. What you saw was not even a half of the quarter of my power."

"Whether you have power or not, it doesn't change that you are unsafe here. Do you really know what it means to be the sword and shield for this kingdom, such as what the Queen had said?" Min Hyuk questioned, the anger that rises on his eyes startled her but she stood firm on her words. 

"I know," Haneul answered, her jaw setting firmly. "But can you tell me there is another way for this? With what in exchange do you think would the Queen agree to your words? You understand it as much as I do that I don't have a choice other than swearing my loyalty to her."

Min Hyuk sighed, the sigh of frustration had her lips curl. He took a step forward, maneuvering himself to take hold of her hands, "Listen to me, Haneul. I don't want you to get hurt. The position you are in now is dangerous. I will think of a way to make you leave the royal palace once you do, you have to leave this kingdom as well. The Queen is greedy and her lust for power knows no bound. I will work of a way—"

Haneul shook her head, "The Queen will kill you if you do that. No one had ever faced her with opinion that goes against her wish and if they do we know what happen to them even if it had turn to whispers. She won't show mercy. I have make my choice and I will stand with it."

"No," Min Hyuk said and he showed her a smile. "Facing her with words is wrong and I know that. I have a way, a method which I know she would have trouble if she doesn't agree with me."

Haneul's eyes turn to question and she questioned in her mind what Min Hyuk had with him that caused him to be confident the Queen wouldn't kill him, "What is it?" She asked only receiving his smile. 

"It's something which would come to my hand in less than a day. Once I have it, we can use it to our advantage and released your grip from her." Min Hyuk then raised his hand to her cheeks, his fingertips were close to touch her until he noticed the shadow moving from the door, the sound of the footsteps sounded very softly that only he could hear and notice.

"I will come back tomorrow again, until then take care of yourself."

Haneul nodded in response and Min Hyuk's smile widened. Seoyeon who was inside Haneul then felt herself slowly separate from her sight. When Seoyeon took a step to the right, she noticed how Haneul didn't follow her and that she had regain her own self in the lucid dream. She wondered if this was the chance for her to walk and look around but then there was only one given person who she can follow according to the situation and it was Min Hyuk.

Seoyeon slowly took another step aside, after making sure it was fine to leave Haneul's side she then followed Min Hyuk.

He left her room soon after, meeting the man who knelt in front of the door. Haneul stared at the new guest whose long hair was tied to a high pony tail. His underclothes had a long neck fabric which was pulled to cover the lower part of his face.

Who was this? Though the man seemed to have been standing in the corridor for seemingly quite a long time, Seoyeon didn't notice his presence. 

She turned to see Min Hyuk and the man didn't utter a single word and only raise his finger, the other man took it as a cue and left the place. The two then met again in the back of the castle.

"Thank you for your help," Min Hyuk said while the other man bowed is head. Although Min Hyuk didn't see him it took him a second to notice the person that had helped him to distract Eunuch Ong was his subordinates.

Seoyeon also realized it slowly when the other man speak that he was the same person who had spoken to Eunuch Ong who almost walk into the scene.

"It is nothing you should ever thank me, sir. But if I might tell you there were more people than we thought who are dispatch to follow Miss Sol appeared to be more in number than we first assessed."

"It doesn't matter how much of them," Min Hyuk answered coldly, his eyes that had turned black transformed again to red as he casted a sideway glance to his subordinates. As Seoyeon had been inside Haneul for quite a long time, seeing the people around her from him, she felt shiver upon seeing the sudden change of Min Hyuk's face.

Warmth vanished from Min Hyuk's face, his eyes were both ferocious and murderous. Not only the look on his face was quick to change frighteningly, his words were no less intense.

He said, "You can kill them, all of them, make sure to kill all those people in the worse fashion, you can make an art out of them to give that greedy woman a warning that Haneul is not a pawn she can control or later cast aside. She need to know her place as a human Queen that there are to an extent of things she can control or not."

Seoyeon could still her the warmth on his voice upon calling Haneul's name, but she doubted the man was himself when he had spoken earlier.. Without Haneul, Seoyeon noticed that he had turned differently from how he always appeared to Haneul, like the moon and the sun.