"This is all my fault, isn't it?" Minho huffed, breaking Erin out of her daze. Sitting on the stairs in front of the front door and gazing out at the garden and night sky simultaneously, Erin felt a piece of her sink at the thought that in a few more days, this town -- much like her hometown -- may cease to exist. And that thought alone scared her a lot more than she was comfortable admitting.

She glanced at him standing at the door frame and sighed, "no, I was the one who captured you. If I had left you alone, none of this would have happened... At least, I would like to believe that. Something tells me Pohang would have burnt down anyway. And there was no way we could have saved it." She exhaled a shaky breath, turning back to stare at the garden before whispering, "just like Masan."

Her final statement was almost inaudible and probably would have been if they were in normal conditions. However, tonight was eerily silent. No birds chirped, no chatter from the townspeople and certainly no sound from the stream. Heck, there wasn't even the hushed blow of the wind. And as calm as conditions were, Erin couldn't find peace from it since it reminded her of the last night of her childhood, her last night of innocence. Everything had been so calm that night when she and Nathaniel stumbled across the town, knocking on doors and blessing the adults with Christmas carols in return for a sliver of food.

I guess that was the last time Erin ever truly felt at peace and now thinking back at it, she cursed her young self for not realising it was the calm before the storm.

"What did happen to Masan?" He questioned, taking a seat beside her. "I understand something bad happened but what?"

She shook her head softly, croaking out a, "too much."

Noticing the evident pain adorning her face, he decided against pestering her and instead stared out at the navy sky. Stars speckled its expanse, twinkling peacefully while the moon provided the land with light though little.

He dared to glimpse at her only to notice a lone tear spill down her cheek. She immediately wiped it and sniffled before turning to him swiftly.

"Isn't Jeongin supposed to be watching over you? Where is he?" she asked.

"He fell asleep."

"So what, you came out here to run away, did you? Only to find me here?"

He furrowed his eyebrows at her, noticing the anger on her face once again. Rolling his eyes, he said, "have a little faith in me, Erin. That's all I ask."

"You're the enemy," she muttered, eyes scanning his body. "The King's son. Why should I have faith in you?"

"Funny how here you are judging me when just a few hours ago, I was certain you were going to kiss me."

Her cheeks flushed, "I wasn't! Why were you so close behind me anyway? It was your fault that happened!"

"I was just trying to have a look at the water, that's all."

"It was just water boiling. Literally, there's nothing more boring to watch."

"Debatable."

"You did it on purpose," she pointed an accusing finger at him. "You purposely tried to fluster me."

He pushed the finger out of his face, "and if I did?"

"Why would you? All I'm trying to do is live my life the way I used to, do you have to interfere with that?"

"I tried to make you flustered, I admit to that. But if what happened then is still messing with you, then that's a you problem."

"It wouldn't be messing with me if you didn't do it in the first place."

"How was I supposed to know you'd get so flustered? I was just testing the waters!"

"Well, you should have tested the waters subtly!"

"I wasn't expecting a storm to come from it!"

"The water was deep. Anyone could see that but you still had to dip your foot in!"

"The water was muddy! I was dipping my foot in to find the depth!"

"Whether the water was deep or not, you'd think you'd take into consideration the fact the ripples were large and the stream fast."

"I'm not sure what's happening anymore!" he grumbled. "Are we using the stream as a metaphor for you or actually arguing over an imaginary stream?"

"I don't know!" she argued back. "You were the one who brought water into this!"

"'testing the waters' is an idiom!"

"I expertise in fighting, not languages! What even is an idiom?"

"An idiom is..." he paused thinking through it. "It is... A phrase, no... An expression that... I don't know compares stuff to stuff. Look, I don't know the actual definition but you get point!" He huffed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Silence engulfed them as they tried to control their breaths. Adrenaline coursed through Erin's veins from being riled up and when she glanced down at her hand, she wasn't shocked to see it trembling too.

Unfortunately, this did not go unnoticed by Minho as he quickly grabbed her hand as held into between his own as though he expected that to be enough to make it stop quaking. Coming to her senses, she attempted to pull her hand out of his grasp but his grip only became tighter and when she shot him a glance, he kept his eyes fixated on the dark sky he had grown to love ever since he was first captured. He was forced to spent most of his time in the Palace as the King was sure someone was always out to kill him and watching a sunrise or sunset, even doing at as much as just staring at the sky was a luxury he hadn't realised he lacked until now.

Subconsciously, he sighed, "I know I should and that I have to, but is it bad that some part of me doesn't want the Royal Army to find me? You get to breathe over here, you get to surround yourself with people you actually like and joke around and play and just... just talk. And for once in my life, I get to think for myself, you know? Discover who I am and figure out whether I want to be like my father or not."

She scoffed, "you want to be like your father? Clearly you haven't been here long enough, my Lord."

"After all, he is my father. And becoming like him is all I've ever known. All I was ever told in the Palace was how amazing he was and whatnot. When you told me that he's not the hero I believed him to be, that really opened my eyes. Now I don't know what to think of him, of the person I've always wished to become."

"Look, Your Highness, I'm not going to be the one to tell you how to rule the country, I can barely care for Busan alone. But what I will tell you -- and what I hope will help you decide -- is that once upon a time, there was a King that ruled over the whole of South Korea. This was even before the country was split into two. So what cracked the country? A power-hungry King. The people of the East aren't against the Royal Family, we are against your wish to kill all our traditions and cultures so we can follow what you believe is the 'norm'. If you wish to rule the whole country, you have to rule it fully, not conditionally. As well as take into consideration the needs and wants of the people. And until you realise that, you'll never rule the East, let alone the whole country."