#THE DEAD BRIDES ARE ALIVE AND THE SPIRIT OF A VINDICTIVE BRIDE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

little-chimchim · 6 years

Text

Champion- Part 4

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 4318

Genre: gladiator au! smut, angst, fluff (Holy trinity)

Pairing: Shownu x Reader

A/N: So, this part is a lot longer than usual and I really hope you guys enjoy. Let me know how you like this part! I love you all- Kay

Part 3 Part 5

It had been nearly a month without word of Shownu. You scavenged around the entire kingdom attempting to find any information on the wounded warrior. After a week of nothing, you had assumed the worse; he had died inside that room. Even whilst in the gladiators quarters, no one uttered his name. It was as if he had fallen off the face of the Earth.

You had pressed Minhyuk for information, but even the young gladiator had no news for you.

After the week of holding on to a slight semblance of hope, you had come to the point of believing that he was dead. It hit you hard. One moment he was alive and well, conquering the arena as if it were his own. Then the next, he was on the ground, bleeding out as Jeongmin stood over him, a sick smile plastered to his face.

In weeks following his death, you hadn’t been able to breath without it hurting. You couldn’t stand without crashing to the ground, your legs too weak to hold the weight over your body. You moved through the palace like a ghost, numb and emotionless to the elements around you.

Your father blamed the sudden bout of strange emotions on the wedding. He believed that you were nervous to get married to Hyunwoo, as most brides to be are before the big day. Yet, that was the farthest thing from the truth. You had lost the love of your life, and you cursed yourself for not being able to say goodbye to him before his body disappeared.

You pushed your food around your plate, absentmindedly staring at the delicacies before you. You and your father sat in silence as you did so. Though, your father watched you with a keen eye. He observed your little actions as he tried to make sense of your quiet behavior.

“Hyunwoo is coming to visit us for a few days, Y/N. Would you enjoy that? Would that make you feel better, my child?” Your father finally broke the silence surrounding the two of you.

You looked up from your plate and stared at him with a saddened frown. “I suppose,” You muttered as you looked back down to the glass plate. It wasn’t a lie, you truly did want to see Hyunwoo, it had been weeks since he went back to his own home. And in his absence, you realized that you need him more than anything, as a friend to guide you through your grief.

Your father smiled to himself as he joyously took a large bite of food. You pushed your still full platter of food away from you, having no appetite to eat. You got up from the polished wooden chair and forced a smile towards your father. “I’m going to bed, papa, I will see you tomorrow.” You said quietly as you walked away from the table.

--------

You pulled off your mask and threw your sword to the ground angrily. Minhyuk turned around to face you, his brow raised in concern. He slowly walked to you and gently rubbed your back. It was just the two of you tonight in the training yard, everyone else had gone to bed many hours prior. Minhyuk took a deep breath before his little movements on your back turned into a tight embrace.

“I know you miss him, Y/N. We all do. Even those of us who fought him in the arena miss him, even if they won’t admit it.” MInhyuk whispered as he comforted you.

You tried containing your tears. You hurt. You hurt so much that breathing pained you. Not having Shownu with you was the most torturous hell that you could endure. All you wanted was to be in his arms, to be able to talk to him one last time.

“Why haven’t they told us anything? Why won’t they tell us if he’s dead?” You sobbed into your friend’s shoulder.

Minhyuk loosened the embrace and shook his head, “Because saying it makes it all to real,” He muttered. His voice shook while he spoke, as if he too was trying to conceal the fact that he would cry at any given moment.

You pulled away from Minhyuk and wiped away your tears. He had seen you for who your truly were and he never stepped away, much to your relief. Minhyuk stood over you and rustled your hair playfully. He sniffled and shook his blond head. “But you can’t stop being you. Hyunwoo wouldn’t want that.” He whispered, a faint smile played at his lips.

You nodded your head and ran a dirt covered had through your messy hair. Minhyuk was right. You refused to give up fighting, not when Shownu gave his life for it. You fisted the cloth mask in your hands and brought it back up to your face.

You closed your eyes and wrapped it around your face. You were more motivated to fight than ever before. You bent down low and grabbed the sword from the ground. You raised it up and thrusted it towards Minhyuk, who deflected it with his shield.

He laughed and brought his own sword forward. “That’s the Ilissa I know,” He cheered before continuing on with your sparring match.

--------

Hyunwoo arrived the following night. He came in as if he had never left. He spoke to the servants with a familiar kindness that seemed to only brighten their spirits. He walked around like he had lived there his entire life and he conversed with your father like the son he had never been able to produce. He was loved by all that inhabited the castle, and it only brought more enthusiasm towards your wedding.

The three of you were sitting around the dining table the night Hyunwoo arrived. He and your father made small talk as Hyunwoo caught the two of you up on what happened over the past month that he had been gone.

It was nothing exciting. He worked with his father and visited the kingdom’s library, and that was the end of the interesting things that he had done. You had pushed around your food just as you had done the night prior, your stomach churned at the thought of consuming the food in front of you.

You hadn’t been paying attention to their conversation until a certain name was brought up.

“Did you hear the news about Shownu? Your father brought it up so casually, so simply, like the name meant nothing to him. Hyunwoo stiffened his posture. He pulled his fork away from his mouth and slowly set it back down on his plate.

“I-I don’t believe I have,” He stuttered. His voice went quiet, a complete contrast from how he had been speaking just moments before. You glanced over to your father. You felt your heart begin to pick up speed just by the mention of Shownu’s name.

Your father sighed audibly and crossed his arms over his wide body. “Poor kid was killed in battle a while back. It’s a shame, he was the best of them. Though, that Jeongmin fellow has a promising future ahead of him. If he dropped the gladiator act right now, I would offer him a noble position in the military. Hell,” Your father started to laugh breathlessly, “If I had another daughter I would offer her to him. It wouldn’t be a bad match politically. It would increase favo-”

“But you don’t have another daughter, Father. And even if you did, I wouldn’t allow her to marry that swine’s ass of a man. She’d be better off marrying a frail and weak horse than to be caught anywhere near Jeongmin.” You snapped, saying your first words of the night.

Your father and Hyunwoo both looked at you, wide eyed and full of shock. Your father furrowed his brow and grimaced, “Those are no such words for a princess to use. Especially in the presence of her betrothed. Now why don’t you apo-”

“I will do no such thing, papa. Not when you are sitting here praising a vindictive little imp such as Jeongmin. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will be going to my room. Thank you and good night.” You said bitterly as you pulled away from the table and padded your feet towards the door of the dining hall.

You opened the door and promptly slammed it behind you, leaving your father and Hyunwoo alone in the room.

---------

“Don’t come in,” You muttered in response to the knocks at your door. Even as you said that, the knocks continued to persist. It was a soft rapping sound upon the wood, and even by the noise, you could tell that it wasn’t your father.

You got up from your bed and frantically wiped the tears away from your cheeks. You knew your eyes were red and swollen, but there was nothing that you could do about it now. You blinked away the stinging pain in your eyes and slowly cracked open your bedroom door. Hyunwoo pushed open the door further and walked inside, despite your protests telling him not to come in. He pivoted on his heel and closed the door.

“Are you going to tell me what happened to you?” Hyunwoo asked gently. He turned to face you while he spoke. You merely shook your head and shrugged your shoulders. You leaned against your wall and wrapped your arms around your chest.

“Nothing,” You lied.

Hyunwoo rolled his eyes and looked over the entirety of your body. “Your eyes are red, your father told me you haven’t been eating, and judging by your little outburst towards Jeongmin, I can tell that you are bottling up some pretty deep emotions.” He said it as if he had made the next big scientific discovery.

You brought your eyes up to face him. He looked back to you, and you could see in his eyes that he was truly concerned for your health. Hyunwoo calmly brought the palm of his hand up to cup one of your cheeks.

You leaned into his hand and shut your eyes. You pushed the pent up tears out of their sockets and let yourself cry in front of Hyunwoo. “I’m heartbroken, Hyunwoo. I just, I don’t know what to do. I feel sick and I just, I miss him so much.” You cried.

Hyunwoo took his hand away and quickly replaced it with a hug, much like Minhyuk had done the previous night. He brought his lips down to the top of your head and kissed your hair as he ran his hand over the fabric of your dress.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. If there’s anything you need, just let me know. I’ll stay here too if you want.” He murmured down to you.

You slightly pulled away to look into his eyes. You stood there in a heavy silence before you decided to speak once again. “Kiss me,” You didn’t know exactly what came over you, or why you were even asking him to do so in the first place. You blamed the intense need to do something to get your mind away from Shownu. You blamed the feeling of loneliness. And perhaps a combination of the pair.

Hyunwoo blinked a few times and scrunched up his nose in confusion. “You want me to kiss you?” He asked, just to make sure that he had heard exactly what you had muttered to him. You nodded you head slowly, “Yes. Hyunwoo please. I need to get my mind off of it, even if it’s for a short few minutes.” You pleaded.

Hyunwoo sighed while nodding his head, “Fine...just close your eyes.” He said shyly. You followed his request and quickly clamped your eyes just. You sucked in a heavy breath and waited for Hyunwoo to lean in.

His lips were on yours in no time. Hyunwoo didn’t bother with the slow anticipation leading up to the kiss. His mouth was delicate on yours, nearly a faint brush of lips before he deepened the kiss.

Your arms hooked around Hyunwoo’s neck, pulling him closer to your body. His hands trailed their way down your torso until they rested above your hips tightly. Hyunwoo backed you against the wall. The heat radiating off his body was intense, and the closer he got to you, the hotter it became.

His mouth broke away from yours, but he continued to press wet pecks along your jawline, as he slowly made his way down to the base of your neck. You ran your fingers through his hair and held him close while he sucked at your skin.

A faint sigh escaped your lips, and Hyunwoo took this as a sign to continue what he was doing. Hyunwoo looked up to you and grabbed your wrists. He pulled you away from the wall and tugged you towards your bed.

“Hyunwoo, we don’t have to do-”

Hyunwoo pressed your shoulder, signifying for you to lean back onto the cushioned mattress. You looked up to your ceiling and then to Hyunwoo, who was still standing in front of you, a soft grin on his face.

“I told you that I’m going to get your mind off of your heartbreak. So let me do that.” He whispered. The young man lowered himself onto his knees in front of the bed. He played with the fabric of your dress, rolling it in his fingers and letting it flow over his hands.

Slowly, he started to push the cloth up your legs. At this point, you knew he was teasing you and it drove you insane. To move things along, you pulled your dress the rest of the way up, revealing the lacy cloth that covered your heat.

Hyunwoo smirked once he saw how eager you were to do this. He held onto your thighs and pulled you closer to him. He trailed his hand up your thigh and hooked a finger around the fabric.

He pulled it to the side and leaned in, carefully placing gentle kisses along your wet heat. Once his lips made contact, you arched your back, not having expected the sudden feeling. Soon enough, his tongue slipped between your folds, running it up and down your heat slowly.

You gasped and ran your fingers through his black hair, pushing him closer to you. He continued to move his tongue around your heat, going quicker with each passing second. Within no time he had you moaning his name as he brought you closer to your high.

It didn’t take long before you were groaning loudly, overcome by a sudden orgasm. You took a deep breath and looked down at Shownu, who had just pulled away from you. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and leaned in to hover over you.

His lips were back on your own as he hungrily moved his hands down to your hips. Your fingers trailed down his chest as you went lower to take a hold of the hem of his top. You dragged your hand down his side but Hyunwoo winced once you did so

. His eyes closed and scrunched together in pain while you touched the area of his side. You dragged your hand away from the sensitive area and looked at him, puzzled by his strange reaction to your touch.

“What’s wrong?” You questioned as you watched him go back to normal. Hyunwoo shook his head and went back to hovering over you. “Nothing, let’s continue.” He breathed out as he leaned back in.

You moved your body away from his and rolled over to face him. “Hyunwoo, what’s wrong?” You asked once again. You weren’t going to stop pestering him until he told you what happened.

Hyunwoo shook his head and scootched off of your bed. “It’s nothing, Y/N. We can stop here-” He was trying to walk away from you, but you grabbed onto his hand before he could leave.

You pulled him back to you and gripped tightly onto the cotton of his top. Before he could move away, you caught a glimpse of the white bandages that were wrapped tightly around his lower abdomen.

Hyunwoo tore away from you and pulled his shirt back over his stomach. “I think it’s time for me to go to m-”

You looked at him in shock, unsure how to feel about the fact that he was so desperately trying to cover up the wound on his stomach. You stood up from your bed and rushed over to your door, sprawling yourself in front of it to prevent him from leaving your room. “Hyunwoo, tell me what happened,” You commanded him, but the nobleman refused to budge.

He stayed still and waited for you to move out of the way, but much like he, you were also as stubborn as a mule. “Why won’t you tell me what happened? Was it a hunting accident? Were you attacked? Was it an animal? What are you hid-”

Hyunwoo shook his head in your direction. Instead he clasped onto your shoulders and tried to move you out of the way, but he froze when a few certain words left your mouth. “Was it Jeongmin?” You asked him. It was almost a whisper, and fully a shot in the dark, but a part of you felt as if it was a question that needed to be asked.

Hyunwoo remained silent. Instead, he tried pushing you out of the way again, but you refused to let him leave through the wooden door.

Your heart sank to your stomach, and the tears started to pool at your eyes again. Though, this time, it was for an entirely different reason than before. “Shownu?” You wondered. This was him, he was standing before you in the flesh, and you could barely comprehend it.

Hyunwoo paused and took a glance at your joyous expression. He didn’t understand why you would be happy to see a dead gladiator, not when the royals had little to do with them. But seeing how your eyes lit up, and seeing the tears stream down your cheeks, Hyunwoo realized something that should have taken him only seconds to do so in the first place.

“Ilissa?” His tone was gruff, as if he wasn’t fully believing the words that came from his mouth. You were on him in a second. Your arms wrapped around his neck and held him so tightly that you didn’t want to let go.

Hyunwoo’s mouth hung open, he couldn’t believe what was happening. You were here, in front of him the entire time. The love of his life had truly been the woman he had been forced to get engaged to.

You pulled away from the hug and turned back to glare and Hyunwoo, who’s bright smile couldn’t falter even if he tried. “Why didn’t you tell Minhyuk and I that you were alive? I’ve spent the past month thinking that Jeongmin had killed you. Hyunwoo, you saw me at dinner, I’ve been a wreck without you.” You whispered to him. His expression changed from overjoyed to guilt faster than light.

He pulled you to his chest and sighed. “I know, I’m sorry. I should have told you, I do regret not telling. They patched me up and I left the infirmary without telling anyone. I had to get back to my father before he found out. But that doesn’t matter right now, Y/N. Look at us, look at where we are. We have each other now. You know me and I know you and we’re getting married. I can’t ask for anything better than that.” He grinned towards you. He bent his head and kissed your hair, like he had just done an hour ago.

Though this time, there was something more than just friendship between the two of you. It was quite an ironic situation. You had fallen in love with a masked man, yet you were being forced to marry another. It was quite funny to think that they were the same man all alone.

You smiled the brightest smile you could muster and pulled Hyunwoo close to you. “Do you remember what you said to me before you battled Jeongmin?” You asked coyly, smirking to him as he thought about his past words.

“I love you,” He said as the memories came back to him. Those were the only words you wished to hear. You smiled and leaned over to press a meek kiss to his cheek. “I love you too, Hyunwoo.” You responded.

Hyunwoo grabbed your hips and pulled you to the bed, bringing you down with him. “I love you, and I will say the same thing every single day for the rest of our lives.” Hyunwoo whispered before pressing his lips to yours, this time, the two of you didn’t stop.

--------

You woke up to a cold bed. You turned over and reached over to feel for Hyunwoo, who wasn’t anywhere to be seen. You pulled yourself away from the comfort of the covers and wrapped the silk robes around your body. You rubbed your eyes groggily and searched around, with no sight of Hyunwoo to be seen.

You looked around the entirety of your wing of the palace, with no such luck of finding Hyunwoo. The halls seemed almost lonely, not a soul could be found in the vacant marble passageways.

Curious, you continued to look around for everyone. You figured that Hyunwoo had gone to eat breakfast, most likely with your father and his men. You scurried through the halls, your bare feet stung from the chilliness of the floor, the sooner you could find Hyunwoo, the better.

There were a slew of guards outside the dining room, all standing watch and waiting for someone to pass by them. When you came near, they all bowed their heads in greetings. “Good morning, Princess.” One of the said loudly as you walked towards the door.

“What’s going on?” You asked them while they cleared away from the door. The guards remained silent, leaving your question unanswered. You hesitantly reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open to the dining room.

There were three men sitting at the long table. Your father, who sat at the head of the table, looked angrily between the two other men. Hyunwoo sat with his fingers laced together, his hands in his lap.

The other man, who you had not expected to see so soon, looked down at Hyunwoo, a playful smirk on his lips. Jeongmin looked up to you and laughed when he finally noticed your presence in the room.

“Good morning sleepyhead, have a good night's rest?” He cooed sickeningly. You turned to your father and then to Hyunwoo, who only shook his head. “What’s this?” You questioned as you stepped further into the room.

Your father stood up from his place at the table and pointed accusingly at Hyunwoo. “This man is a liar. He’s been going behind our backs to fight as a gladiator, going under the guise of Shownu. Can you believe it? We let a double timing liar live amongst us.” Your father lowered his gaze to glare at Hyunwoo.

He then returned his attention back to you and snarled. “I’m canceling the wedding. The engagement. Our ties with the governor. All of it, gone. Just because this man decided to lie to us and play out his little fantasy of being a hero.”

You gasped and took a step back. “Papa, you can’t do that. Please, don’t do t-”

Your father now pointed to Jeongmin, who grinned cheekily at both you and Hyunwoo. “Nonsense. This kind man decided to tell me the truth of Hyunwoo’s identity. You’re sooner going to marry Jeongmin than Hyunwoo now. Especially after this.” Your father boomed.

He was in a blind rage and you couldn’t figure out anything soon enough to calm him down. “Papa, please think about this. Jeongmin is a gladiator and yet you worship the ground he walks on. Why are you dismissing Hyunwoo so quickly?” You asked calmly.

“Because Jeongmin is not a liar, Hyunwoo is. I will allow no such person to marry my daughter.” Your father turned to Hyunwoo and pointed to the door. “I want you to leave my home as quickly as possible and I don’t want you to ever. Ever. Come by here again.” He yelled at Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo nodded his head and got up from the table. He walked over to where you were standing and cupped your head in his hands. “We’ll figure this out, Y/N. I promise. I love you.” He whispered under his breath before he pressed a quick peck to your lips.

He pulled away far too quickly and walked away from you, leaving you alone amongst Jeongmin and your father, who watched with furious eyes.

“You are going to be engaged to Jeongm-”

“Papa, no”

Your father turned beet red from anger, “I am the emperor, you have no right to tell me no. What I say goes and you will be engaged to Jeongmin.” He bellowed before getting up and storming out, his feet pounding on the marble floor.

Jeongmin got up from the table and lazily followed after your father. He strode over to you and sent you a wink. “I’ll make you forget about him within no time,” He slurred before he stepped away, following after your father like a lost little puppy dog.

You stood in the center of the empty dining hall, unable to wrap your mind around what had just happened. All you knew was that you had just lost Hyunwoo once again, just after you had found him and held him in your arms.

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