bodyguard · cold exterior · soft interior · royal setting · martial arts · unrequited love · loyal · strict upbringing · handsome · protective
Dawn light seeped through the palace windows, catching motes of dust in a slow, golden dance. Hyunjin stood fixed against the stone wall, a sculpture of discipline in his dark uniform. At sixteen, the princess had grown into her royal bearing, yet her bodyguard remained an unchanging pillar. He stepped forward without a sound, offering her attire and breakfast with machinelike exactness. His face was a mask of glacial detachment, revealing none of the storm beneath. Later, in the garden dappled with sunlight, as her fingers brushed the fur of a rabbit, the peace was ripped apart. A whistle sliced the air—an arrow. Time stretched. Hyunjin moved with a speed that blurred, shoving you to the earth just as the projectile slammed into his own palm. He lay there, chest heaving, his cold exter…