Story of A Prince

Chapter VI

"Ji Hoo-san? You look almost the same. Minus, you're taller now," Ga Eul smiled at him.

"So you do remember me?" Ji Hoo grinned. "I suppose I should consider myself lucky. In this time, you must have perfected your roundhouse."

"Of course," Ga Eul smirked, but in a friendly way. "When your crazy best friend is the one who was the making of Gideon... Things happen."

"I preferred the girl who swam more than the martial arts fighter," Ji Hoo said. "For some reason, it suits you more. Swimming, I mean."

"I... I don't swim anymore, Ji Hoo-san."

Ji Hoo looked up, head snapping back in pure shock and surprise. Ga Eul was one of the best swimmers he had ever seen, second only to his live, who was an all round athlete. How could she have stopped swimming just like that?

"What do you mean, you don't swim? You swim nearly as well as Princess!" He looked horrified. "Did she quit swimming as well, in that case?"

"She wouldn't quit a sport," Ga Eul laughed lightly at that. "Eleven years ago. That's the last time I swam, oppa. After we got kidnapped, we were taken to a ship. They stowed us in a storage cell which had bars, and they used to push the food through those bars, once a day. Eventually, I think I broke down. Princess wouldn't hear of it, and she somehow managed to unhinge the door. It took nearly two weeks of almost non-stop work to blast that door away. Unfortunately, we got out during daylight, and we couldn't just jump out without knowing where we were. There was no land in sight. So we snooped about, and someone said it was a few kilometres. Princess and I still couldn't leave in plain sight unless something was there to distract those pirate kidnappers. Even she was scared, but not enough to actually listen to me and wait till nightfall. Instead she got a pickaxe that was lying around and started hewing out a hole in the bottom wine cellars. It was really close to their weaponry furnace, so no one came to check until the boat started to sink. We weren't even noticed when we jumped off, and started swimming in the straight ahead direction the boat had been heading towards. It took almost a day swimming like that, and at one point, I gave up. We started taking turns at pulling each other, again courtesy of her presence of mind. But she did most of it. I haven't been able to swim since that day. It's too much."

"But you say that the Princess hasn't quit? She really is something else," Ji Hoo laughed softly. "But, how come no one noticed. I mean, with her hair and eyes, it should be pretty obvious."

"Right now, everyone knows her as a girl who's dyed her hair to look like a Princess, and is wearing matching contact lens," Ga Eul smiled. "All she does is dye her gold hair brown and wear blue lens when we leave Gideon territory. Well, Gideon members think that that's her real looks."

"It's a double act, then, but a really good one. So, what have you done with my two friends, who, by the way, must have acted impulsively to help me find you girls?" Ji Hoo smiled disarmingly.

"Oh, they've probably me-"

"Hey, Geul!" A strong, melodic feminine voice shouted, approaching them. "Which of those two did you throw out again? Black ice or bronzie?"