The time you cherished the most, the peace that unfolded before your eyes and the feeling of protection, all those little things that make us keep going, what happens when we lose them? When the time we cherished turns into unbearable memories, the peace turns into chaos and the feeling of protection is replaced with fear. What happens then? 

The scary moments were embraced in a foolish lie of a moment of peace. To the people that were hoping for a better tomorrow after a night of horror, the truth of the morning was about to show the true nature of the ones they thought were their friends. 

Yet, before the morning sun appeared on the clear sky, the night was still present. In the house of Yeong-hwan, his friend found himself awake, looking at the jewelry that he had brought with him. In particular, a golden bracelet that had a blue stone engraved in it.

‘If you were here, what would you do? Would you trust this sudden change, or will you try to protect the memory of the one you knew before? What can I do now, when I don’t trust that person?’ whispered Hyun-woo as he looked at the bracelet, with a sad expression.

For Hyun-woo, the sudden change that Yeong-hwan had made scared him. After years of being a good friend to Yeong-hwan, Hyun-woo was certain that something was behind that choice. He knew that the boy wouldn’t let someone so close to his life, after all the pain he endured in the past, yet here he was, with an unknown girl. He feared the rumors to be true. On his way here, he also had heard about the people that tried to perturbe the safety of the king, and he knew what the consequences were for those people. Seeing that girl, he was sure that there was more behind her presence that Yeong-hwan let him see.

‘Ji-woo, tell me, what can I do to protect them? What can I do so that no one has to die? You told me to give my all and return the favor to Yeong-hwan, but I’m afraid my help won’t be enough.’ in the darkness of the night, Hyun-woo told the fear that he locked deep inside his heart.

On the other side of the wall, in the room Yu Na and Yeong-hwan were inside, it looked like they were also having a serious conversation. Yeong-hwan was going in circles in the room, contemplating what happened. Then Yu Na addressed her fear.

‘Do you think it has something to do with my arrival here? Have I caused this chaos? Were the royal guards looking for me?’

‘No. It wasn’t your fault.’ he said as he kneeled down in front of her. ‘Don’t fear that as we haven’t yet known the real reason. From what I have heard, it looked like the guards were sent here to collect some crops that this village was supposed to give to the kingdom, yet, because of the hunger and the drought, it wasn’t enough. So people tried to riot. Some of them hid their crops, while others tried to give less than they were supposed to. After the king found out what the people tried to do, it looked like he ordered for the guards to search every house and take everything they found.’ 

Yu Na was shocked to hear that. She couldn’t understand how such chaos was created because of such a problem.

‘But… people had lost their lives, why did they take so drastic measures in order to achieve what they wanted?’ 

‘For that, I have no answer to give, and I suggest you also keep in mind that everything you say can create problems for you and those around you. When you’re outside this house, you have to be prudent with what your statements are. Do you understand?’ asked with an imposing Yeong-hwan while looking straight into her eyes.

‘Yes, I’ll be careful of what I say. Thank you for telling me that.’  she assured him

To that response, Yeong-hwan smiled, then he patted the girl’s head. A childish reaction, yet one who held deep feelings of affection. Those small gestures were hinting of the feelings that the two of them were starting to have for each other, yet no one tried to speak them out. Yu Na smiled softly.

‘Thank you for trusting me, Yu Na. I’m going to keep my promise to protect you.’

With that, Yeong-hwan blew the candle and the room fee; into the darkness. Yu Na found herself deep in the blanket as she felt the coldness of the night. If it wasn’t for the tiredness that she felt, she wouldn't have fallen asleep so soon.

On the other hand, Yeong-hwan found himself going back to the locked room. He didn’t notice that Hyun-woo had followed him, and, as soon as he entered the room, Hyun-woo closed the door behind them. In the moment before Yeong-hwan could even turn back, Hyun-woo’s candle’s light lit the room. 

Yeong-hwan seemed to be upset by the action of his friend.

‘Why are you here? I thought the talk from the garden was enough.’ 

‘You haven’t responded to me yet. You really think I would feel at ease knowing that that room still exists? Look around! You can’t trust the girl to keep her mouth shut! If she finds out, she’ll report you!’ 

Because of the light, now it was easier to look inside the room. In the walls it looked like someone engraved all the words that were displayed.

‘The king to be feared’, ‘Trust no one.’, ‘My death will bring the truth.’, ‘History will repeat itself.’ , ‘S.MIN.’ and then, like at the back of Yeong-hwan’s diary, a lot of numbers were engraved.

‘Destroy the evidence!’ yelled Hyun-woo at his friend.