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honou_no_izumi) wrote2020-04-19 11:27 pm
honou_no_izumi) wrote2020-04-19 11:27 pm
Entry tags:
Last Stage [Chapter 2]
Title: Last Stage
Series: 황후의 품격 / The Last Empress
Characters: Lee Hyuk
Summary: As the 10th anniversary of Lee Hyuk's reign grows nearer, Dowager Empress Kang schemes yet another plan to foil Oh Sunny's attempt to bring light to the Imperial family's crimes. It'll take more than just the combined efforts of both Sunny and Wangshik to try to bring them down. And will Lee Hyuk finally have a change of heart?
-------------------------------------------------
Just as he managed to lift Sunny's body and taken a few steps towards the exit, another bomb from god-knows-where exploded. Hyuk could feel the heat from the flames graze the back of his neck as his already shaky legs stumbled out to get himself and Sunny away towards safety.
Even as he finally reached the outside of the hall and into the corridor he couldn't believe that he actually made it out. Yet...
Did he imagine it? He could've sworn that he saw that man just now—he thought he saw Na Wangshik!
Lee Hyuk turned around as he watched the conference hall being engulfed in flames.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
Hyuk turned around to find several of his Imperial guards coming to his side. He immediately passed Sunny to them.
"Take the empress to safety right now!" he barked as Hyuk wasted no moment to turn around and head back towards the burning conference hall. His progress was stopped immediately by one of his men.
"No, Your Majesty... it's too dangerou—!" exclaimed one of them as the guard grabbed his arm.
Hyuk quickly shook them off as he frantically ran towards the hall. The immediate heat from the flames stopped him right on track.
He let out a frustrated cry before his eyes caught a fire extinguisher lying at the corner and grabbed it. Hyuk started fumbling with it as he tried to recall the instructions to use it before the burst of the foams from the nozzle startled him for a second.
Once the shock wore off he immediately marched into the fire to put off the flames around him.
xxx
What the fuck was he doing now? He should've stayed away for his own safety!
But then he couldn't shake the memory of Na Wangshik launching himself towards one of the bombs placed on the floor before it exploded on them. And alongside that memory, he inadvertently recalled the memory of Wangshik risking his life to protect Sunny.
He remembered how devastated he felt as he saw Wangshik lying on the pavement. blood slowly pooling beside his injured head...
"But Na Wangshik was your enemy! Why should you care if he died here?", a voice inside his argued. He started recalling the many times Wangshik was tried to kill him in the past and how much the man told him how much he hated his guts. He shouldn't have cared if Na Wangshik died in this place right now!
Yet another memory resurfaced from the time Na Wangshik cornered him at the edge of the cliff. That time... as much as the man acted as if he wanted him dead, Na Wangshik hadn't actually done anything to cause him to fall off the cliff. The many times the man acted as he wanted to run him over with the car, it always fell short of hitting him at the crucial moment. Even the warning shot that Na Wangshik let out, the gun was never aimed towards him!
If he hadn't let himself fall from the cliff voluntarily, would Na Wangshik really kill him?
Hyuk shook his head rapidly before telling himself to focus back towards the present. He needed to find that man! Any other questions he wanted answering, he could always ask the man himself once this danger has passed!
"Where are you..." he coughed, "...Na Wangshik!"
Hyuk sprayed another shot of the pressurized CO2 foam in front of him before finally, he could see Wangshik's prone form on the floor not far from him. He immediately dropped the fire extinguisher and ran out towards the man.
"Wangshik. Na Wangshik! Wake up!" he cried before noticing all of the blood on Wangshik's torso. "No... you can't die! Not right now!"
"Your Majesty! We need to get out!"
Hyuk looked up as a guard came over to drag him out.
"I can't leave him! Help me get him out!" cried Hyuk again as the guard hastily helped him out.
Just as the three of them reached safety, Hyuk could hear the sound of fire trucks coming by. He turned towards the guard who helped him out.
"Listen to me. I need you to secretly take this man out and get him to the hospital without anyone seeing you. Don't let my mother or anyone else see that this man is still alive, you hear me?"
The guard gave a brief nod as he started pulling Wangshik over and carried him on his back.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
xxx
It took him a bit of time before he could get away from everyone. After that incident, the police, media and his mother never left him alone long enough for him to be able to sneak out of the palace.
He had Wangshik get sent to the Imperial Hospital. He'd argued to himself that maybe it was the most dangerous place to hide Wangshik from his mother but arguably, the place might as well be the safest.
His mother wouldn't have expected HIM of all people to protect Na Wangshik.
As soon as he reached the hospital, he went to find the people in charge of tending to Wangshik's injuries.
xxx
"How is he?"
He asked... because a part of him was too scared to see the man right away. Yet another part of him was hoping that Wangshik's condition wouldn't be too bad.
The doctor gave him a furtive look before heaving a long sigh.
"For now, we've tended to his injuries. The blast from the bomb had caused quite a number of second and third-degree burns on the patient. Not to mention some shrapnel from the bomb cutting into his body—you said that he used his own body to cover the blast from the bomb?"
Hyuk nodded. "Yes, I saw him did that. And the blast threw him back with quite a big force."
The doctor nodded silently. "I see. And I suppose by doing so he managed to contain the strength of the explosion to allow you and the empress to escape safely."
Hyuk felt a lurch in his stomach as the doctor's words started to loom over him. Despite being his enemy, Na Wangshik still went as far as to protect him from harm! A part of him wished that it was true... but no, that couldn't be true. Wangshik wouldn't be trying to protect him—why would he?—but he'd do it to protect Sunny!
A sense of sorrow started to seep into his chest at the thought of Wangshik hating him. But there's no point of him to feel disappointed about that, he deserved it after all.
Perhaps the doctor had sensed that he was feeling a bit morose since the man immediately added, "Thankfully we managed to remove all of the fragments that have stuck inside the patient's body. The remaining problem would then be the effects of the blast."
Lee Hyuk could feel the doctor's eyes bearing down to him as he glanced back towards the man.
"We did a CT scan on him. While the result should have been expected, there was still another pressing matter that we need to talk about..."
Hyuk nodded in understanding.
"The bullet inside his head?"
The doctor let out a surprised cry. "So, you already knew? Your Majesty?"
Hyuk nodded again. "So how is it?"
The doctor let out a troubled look. "I don't think the patient would be able to survive long at this rate. Even if we could remove the bullet now, there's no guarantee that he could recover fully."
"How long?"
"Three months? Or maybe even less than that."
Series: 황후의 품격 / The Last Empress
Characters: Lee Hyuk
Summary: As the 10th anniversary of Lee Hyuk's reign grows nearer, Dowager Empress Kang schemes yet another plan to foil Oh Sunny's attempt to bring light to the Imperial family's crimes. It'll take more than just the combined efforts of both Sunny and Wangshik to try to bring them down. And will Lee Hyuk finally have a change of heart?
-------------------------------------------------
Just as he managed to lift Sunny's body and taken a few steps towards the exit, another bomb from god-knows-where exploded. Hyuk could feel the heat from the flames graze the back of his neck as his already shaky legs stumbled out to get himself and Sunny away towards safety.
Even as he finally reached the outside of the hall and into the corridor he couldn't believe that he actually made it out. Yet...
Did he imagine it? He could've sworn that he saw that man just now—he thought he saw Na Wangshik!
Lee Hyuk turned around as he watched the conference hall being engulfed in flames.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
Hyuk turned around to find several of his Imperial guards coming to his side. He immediately passed Sunny to them.
"Take the empress to safety right now!" he barked as Hyuk wasted no moment to turn around and head back towards the burning conference hall. His progress was stopped immediately by one of his men.
"No, Your Majesty... it's too dangerou—!" exclaimed one of them as the guard grabbed his arm.
Hyuk quickly shook them off as he frantically ran towards the hall. The immediate heat from the flames stopped him right on track.
He let out a frustrated cry before his eyes caught a fire extinguisher lying at the corner and grabbed it. Hyuk started fumbling with it as he tried to recall the instructions to use it before the burst of the foams from the nozzle startled him for a second.
Once the shock wore off he immediately marched into the fire to put off the flames around him.
xxx
What the fuck was he doing now? He should've stayed away for his own safety!
But then he couldn't shake the memory of Na Wangshik launching himself towards one of the bombs placed on the floor before it exploded on them. And alongside that memory, he inadvertently recalled the memory of Wangshik risking his life to protect Sunny.
He remembered how devastated he felt as he saw Wangshik lying on the pavement. blood slowly pooling beside his injured head...
"But Na Wangshik was your enemy! Why should you care if he died here?", a voice inside his argued. He started recalling the many times Wangshik was tried to kill him in the past and how much the man told him how much he hated his guts. He shouldn't have cared if Na Wangshik died in this place right now!
Yet another memory resurfaced from the time Na Wangshik cornered him at the edge of the cliff. That time... as much as the man acted as if he wanted him dead, Na Wangshik hadn't actually done anything to cause him to fall off the cliff. The many times the man acted as he wanted to run him over with the car, it always fell short of hitting him at the crucial moment. Even the warning shot that Na Wangshik let out, the gun was never aimed towards him!
If he hadn't let himself fall from the cliff voluntarily, would Na Wangshik really kill him?
Hyuk shook his head rapidly before telling himself to focus back towards the present. He needed to find that man! Any other questions he wanted answering, he could always ask the man himself once this danger has passed!
"Where are you..." he coughed, "...Na Wangshik!"
Hyuk sprayed another shot of the pressurized CO2 foam in front of him before finally, he could see Wangshik's prone form on the floor not far from him. He immediately dropped the fire extinguisher and ran out towards the man.
"Wangshik. Na Wangshik! Wake up!" he cried before noticing all of the blood on Wangshik's torso. "No... you can't die! Not right now!"
"Your Majesty! We need to get out!"
Hyuk looked up as a guard came over to drag him out.
"I can't leave him! Help me get him out!" cried Hyuk again as the guard hastily helped him out.
Just as the three of them reached safety, Hyuk could hear the sound of fire trucks coming by. He turned towards the guard who helped him out.
"Listen to me. I need you to secretly take this man out and get him to the hospital without anyone seeing you. Don't let my mother or anyone else see that this man is still alive, you hear me?"
The guard gave a brief nod as he started pulling Wangshik over and carried him on his back.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
xxx
It took him a bit of time before he could get away from everyone. After that incident, the police, media and his mother never left him alone long enough for him to be able to sneak out of the palace.
He had Wangshik get sent to the Imperial Hospital. He'd argued to himself that maybe it was the most dangerous place to hide Wangshik from his mother but arguably, the place might as well be the safest.
His mother wouldn't have expected HIM of all people to protect Na Wangshik.
As soon as he reached the hospital, he went to find the people in charge of tending to Wangshik's injuries.
xxx
"How is he?"
He asked... because a part of him was too scared to see the man right away. Yet another part of him was hoping that Wangshik's condition wouldn't be too bad.
The doctor gave him a furtive look before heaving a long sigh.
"For now, we've tended to his injuries. The blast from the bomb had caused quite a number of second and third-degree burns on the patient. Not to mention some shrapnel from the bomb cutting into his body—you said that he used his own body to cover the blast from the bomb?"
Hyuk nodded. "Yes, I saw him did that. And the blast threw him back with quite a big force."
The doctor nodded silently. "I see. And I suppose by doing so he managed to contain the strength of the explosion to allow you and the empress to escape safely."
Hyuk felt a lurch in his stomach as the doctor's words started to loom over him. Despite being his enemy, Na Wangshik still went as far as to protect him from harm! A part of him wished that it was true... but no, that couldn't be true. Wangshik wouldn't be trying to protect him—why would he?—but he'd do it to protect Sunny!
A sense of sorrow started to seep into his chest at the thought of Wangshik hating him. But there's no point of him to feel disappointed about that, he deserved it after all.
Perhaps the doctor had sensed that he was feeling a bit morose since the man immediately added, "Thankfully we managed to remove all of the fragments that have stuck inside the patient's body. The remaining problem would then be the effects of the blast."
Lee Hyuk could feel the doctor's eyes bearing down to him as he glanced back towards the man.
"We did a CT scan on him. While the result should have been expected, there was still another pressing matter that we need to talk about..."
Hyuk nodded in understanding.
"The bullet inside his head?"
The doctor let out a surprised cry. "So, you already knew? Your Majesty?"
Hyuk nodded again. "So how is it?"
The doctor let out a troubled look. "I don't think the patient would be able to survive long at this rate. Even if we could remove the bullet now, there's no guarantee that he could recover fully."
"How long?"
"Three months? Or maybe even less than that."