Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ XXXI. JAE ❆ ❆

"Jae!"

Oh great. Here comes that little pest's voice.

"Here she comes..." Tadao whispers, confirming it.

Jae just growls in response.

Tadao laughs, "Don't be like that. Put on a show. And by that I mean, show Kumari who's boss. She may be the princess, but you're the one who deserves to be treated like royalty, isn't that right...?"

"People ought to kiss the ground I sanchaeg on," is Jae's reply.

"Jae!"

"Kumariiii," and he forces out a smile, as she skids to a stop in front of him and looks up. "Where's Chiro?"

"He's probably still on the train," she sneaks a quick look behind herself, but there's nothing there. Tadao would know if there was. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I thought you didn't care about me?" He says, smooth as silk, examining his nails.

"Of course I care about you."

"And why is that, hm?" He raises an eyebrow, climbing down from the dead tree, coming face to face with Kumari, who gasps.

"Jaejae," she whimpers. "Your eyes..."

"What's wrong with my eyes?" He asks, idly poking his face.

"They're black."

"Like your heart," he teases, but his words are laced with so much venom.

"Don't say that," and the look on her face almost hurts his heart, but he's sure that what's he feeling is just pity for the poor dumb creature. "I'm sorry if I said something mean... I wasn't feeling like myself."

"I, on the other hand," he stretches. "Feel amazing. It's so good not to be bogged down by ingrates who think they can push you to do whatever they want."

"H-huh?"

"Oh Kumari, sweet princess," he sneers as he says that. "Don't play coy with me. I know that you don't really care about me. You just use me... I'll get you what you want, yeah? Well what about what I want? Did you ever ask? Did you?"

"You... Want to find Ruisea. We both do... Yeah?"

Jae shrugs, "Maybe. Maybe not. You don't care. As long as I take you to the market, on the train, to see snow. It's all you you you and none of me. You don't care about me, Kumari."

"That's a lie, Jaejae!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" He snarls viciously. "You don't deserve to call me that."

"Jae," she says, firmly, but he can see the tears in the corner of her eyes. "Jae. You gotta snap out of it. I'm sorry if it seems like I used you, but I swear it's not true—"

"Don't make vows like that if you don't want to go to hell, Kumari."

"But Tadao is using you! He's going to make you hate me and hate me and hate everything more and more and more until you don't got any life left to hate anyone."

"Maybe I don't care, Kumari," he shoves her. "Maybe it feels good to hate."

"Does it?" She asks him bluntly.

He hates her. And he hates how he hesitates again for her.

"Come on now, Jae..." Tadao's voice whispers in his ear. "Don't listen to her lies. Who's your friend, huh? Who's going to give you what you want? Get back up in the tree. Show her that she's not special. She can't have her way with you."