this is my form of escapism

you’re a princess and yonghee is part of the royal guard. he has been away for months and you miss him almost too much to bare. every day you worry and hope he comes back from the war in your kingdom. and one day, he does.

tags: fluff, so much fluff, tiny bit of angst, historical au, mentions of light wounds

four months, one week and fifteen days. that’s how long you’ve had to endure without yonghee. it has been the longest four months of your life. even when you were sick with the flu for three weeks, which at the time had felt like a lifetime, hadn’t felt as dreadfully long as this. you know he hadn’t had a choice, that as a part of the royal guard it was his duty to go and do what he does best: take his place as an archer in the army whenever it was needed anywhere in the kingdom. 

as long as the civil war had been going on, he has been gone, and day in day out you are afraid to receive word that he will not come back alive. he had made a promise on the day he left, when you were in your comfortable bed, naked and tangled up in each other, kissing your nose softly as he had whispered that no matter what, he would return to you, safe and sound. you had wanted to believe him. desperately. 

“you worry too much,” he had chuckled softly, lightly pressing his nose against your cheek, something he always did when he wanted a kiss and you weren’t facing him. you had turned to him, a smile on your face that hadn’t reached your eyes. he kissed you then, soft and gentle, yet determined to prove that he meant what he said. sealed with a kiss. 

no one knows how long this war will last, but even if it wasn’t for the fact that you hated being separated from your lover, it breaks your heart that it hasn’t been resolved yet. this is a matter between different civilians, and since your father, the king, can’t let his people ravage each other, he had had no choice but to send the royal guard on a mission to make sure no people would get unnecessarily hurt. it did, however, happen often enough that they needed to step in when a battle would take place. three, so far, you heard. three too many, for many reasons. especially because it put yonghee in danger. 

watching the sunset from the long, slightly arched bridge, you wonder if he is looking up at the sky too. it is painted with pinks and purples, a cloud dotted against the light blue here and there. it is beautiful. almost as beautiful as him, you think to yourself. you would often watch sunsets together, be it in the royal gardens, at the large pond behind the palace or from your balcony. it made his skin glow a stunning gold, a sight that is engraved in your memory, probably forever. 

“how long…” you whisper under your breath, your elbows leaning on the wooden railing of the bridge. “how long before you come back to me.” 

“how about… three seconds?” 

for a moment you think you imagine the familiar voice and you are positive you have gone insane with longing, but a feeling in your gut tells you that this is no hallucination. you quickly turn and see him at the edge of the bridge, a smile spreading onto his lips. he looks rough; his hair is dirty and looks like it hasn’t been washed or combed in days, if not longer. his robes are torn in some places and blood stained and you hope with all your might that it isn’t his blood. his face has smudges of dirt here and there and what looks to be a fresh scar on his brow, but other than that… he looks like the yonghee you know and love. 

you suck in a gasp as you hurry over to him, right into his open arms, and you hug him tighter than you ever have before. he winces lightly but holds you just as tight and you stand there, in each other’s embrace for god knows how long. your eyes are firmly shut, stinging with tears as they trickle down your cheeks, still processing that he is, in fact, back. 

“it’s alright, my love, i am here,” he whispers, one arm wrapped tightly around your waist, while his free hand is in your hair, holding you as close to his chest as possible. “as i promised.”

although yonghee isn’t badly hurt, it is still more than you’d like to see. his eyebrow has already been patched up, most likely over a week old, but he has a bruise on his side that tells you he probably had a broken rib or two. other than that, you have to admit that he is lucky to have gotten away with such light wounds. from what you heard after having gone into the palace with him, there had been nothing short of a blood bath a few days ago. the only good thing about that day, was that the conflict seemed to be resolved now, which is why he had been able to finally come back to the palace. the war is over. 

you sit beside the bathtub in your white underdress as you lightly dab a wet washcloth along yonghee’s cheekbone. he is laying in the bath, his head leaning back on the edge of the tub, his eyes closed and a smile on his face. the water is just the right temperature–not too hot, not too cold–and you take your time washing the grime and dirt off of his body. you had insisted on doing it for him, wanting him to just relax as much as possible now that he was back home. back with you. 

“sit up for me?” you ask, and he cracks open one eye slightly. 

“hmm…” he hums, moving his hand up out of the water and tapping his lips lightly. “i require payment first.”

you scoff and roll your eyes, but you lean in anyway and kiss him softly on his lips, which are soft and freshly cleaned and familiar. the only lips you ever want to kiss. 

“is that payment enough?” you giggle softly when you pull back, and he smiles as he sits up. 

“i’ll be needing some more of those later, as well,” he lets you know as you shift your stool to be positioned behind him and get to work on washing his hair. 

“oh will you now? we’ll see about that,” you say, as though there is any doubt that you would give him anything that he wants at this point. when you’re done washing and rinsing his hair you fetch him a towel. he gets out of the tub, water dripping from his clean body, and you step closer to him, first lightly drying his hair with the towel, then wrapping it around his waist. 

“i should go to war more often if it means you treat me like this, my love,” he smirks down at you before laughing when you playfully slap his chest. 

“don’t even think about it. i’m never letting you leave my sight again,” you tell him firmly, and he kisses your forehead when you wrap your arms around his still wet middle. 

“i know you won’t,” he smiles down at you. 

after drying off, yonghee lies on your bed, a deep sigh leaving his lungs as he finally gets to relax on something that isn’t the floor or a makeshift bed for the first time in months, probably. you insist on putting a soothing balm on his side that should be able to help with the pain, and carefully wrap a bandage around his waist, making sure not to make it too tight. he lets you, knowing it brings you peace of mind to take care of him like this. 

“now come here, princess,” yonghee says, his voice becoming huskier and sleepier, and you know it won’t be long until he falls asleep. you join him in your bed, the sliding doors to your balcony open, letting the summer night’s breeze play with the thin curtains and caressing your body gently. the moonlight falls on his face perfectly and for just a tiny moment, you wonder if this is all just a dream. when he takes your chin in between his thumb and index finger to pull you closer into a kiss, however, you know that this is very much real. 

“thank you,” you whisper against his lips. 

“for what?” yonghee asks.