Antifragile

“The palace is heavily guarded from all sides. Our best hope of entering unnoticed will be at night, when the guards are tired. There should be a hole in the fence around the side, if they haven’t patched it up yet from when I escaped.” Sakura instructed.

“The prison is going to be hard to break in to. The prison has guard stationed at its only entrance all the time. The only time it is left unguarded is for thirty second intervals during the handover period, which occur at 2am and 1pm. Besides…there’s no guarantee that Eunbi will even be there. If she’s as hated as you guys say she is, then they may have kept her in the interrogation chamber. Everybody knows that once you enter the interrogation chamber, there’s no leaving it. You will die in there.” Kazuha added in an ominous tone.

“We still have to try! We can’t just leave Eunbi unnie there!” Yunjin protested.

“Then we must act quickly, and I doubt we can pull it off alone. I think Juri or Yeonhee might know people working in the palace who can help us. I’ll go and find them now.” Chaewon insisted.

“Unnie, you’re injured. I’ll go instead.” Eunchae offered, leaving before Chaewon could argue.

Silence settled over the gathered group as they brooded, all lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, a familiar outline began approaching them from afar. Wonyoung’s face was solemn, and she was drenched in blood.

“Where are Yuri and Yujin? And is Yena alright?” Chaewon demanded.

“Kaeun unnie is still with her. She needed to undergo surgery to remove the bullet from her heart, and it just finished. She’s alive, for now, but we’re not sure if she’ll make it through the night. Yuri unnie hasn’t left her side, and Yujin unnie fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake her. We can return to the house now, it’s safe. I went out to get some supplies for Kaeun unnie earlier and overheard some soldiers talking. They said that since they have Eunbi unnie, they won’t bother searching for the rest of us. And that they had to hold off interrogations since the emperor was visiting.” Wonyoung informed them.

The group breathed a small sigh of relief, Eunbi was spared for the time being. They packed up and slowly descended as nightfall arrived. They took turns helping to carry Chaewon on their backs, not wanting the older girl to risk hurting her feet even more. Chaewon felt guilty for burdening them, but they all brushed it off with a laugh.

When they arrived back at the house, Yujin had already woken up and was sharing a meal with Kaeun. The elder girl looked exhausted, but she managed to smile as the group filed back into the house. Only Yuri remained by Yena’s side, holding her hand to her heart as she slept.

“Rest up. Tomorrow those of us who are well enough will go to see Yeonhee. Eunchae is already there, but I think it’s best if all of us go as well. They’re still recovering from being attacked and I don’t want to burden them too much.” Chaewon ordered.

The exhausted group nodded as they lay down to rest, most of them falling asleep immediately. It had been an eventful day to say the least. Only Chaewon, Kaeun and Yuri remained awake after some time, with Yuri refusing to leave Yena’s side.

“You need to sleep, Yena is not going anywhere anyway. Don’t worry, Kaeun unnie is here.” Chaewon murmured.

“I’m scared that if I fall asleep, she may leave me. I don’t want to lose her.” Yuri said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I can’t force you to sleep, but at least let me wrap a blanket around you. It’s cold and you’re already shivering.”

Chaewon gently shifted Yuri out of the way as she lay down a few thick blankets to act as a mattress, allowing Yuri to sit on the mattress before she wrapped the thick blanket from her own bed around Yuri.

“Rest well Yuri, and don’t worry. Yena will pull through.”

“Chaewon unnie! Come quick!” Yuri’s shrill scream alerted Chaewon as she sat up in shock, before coming to her senses and running to the living room.

Yena was just about coming to when Chaewon arrived, while Kaeun was busy checking up on her.

“She’s no longer in the danger zone. However, she will be bed bound for the next few months until her heart repairs. She is allowed out of bed only with assistance, and under no circumstances is she allowed any strenuous exercises. She may only walk a maximum of 10 steps per day, and only with assistance. Any more than that and you could risk her heart becoming even more damaged.” Kaeun instructed firmly.

“I can’t thank you enough unnie. How can we ever repay you?”

“Just bring me some of your homemade potato salad the next time you visit and I’ll call it even.” Kaeun said with a wink as she took her leave.

Yuri had already fallen asleep, exhaustion having claimed her. Even as she slept, she held Yena’s hand firmly in her own. Yena smiled at her fondly, stroking Yuri’s head gently as she slept.

“That was quite a scare. I’m glad that you’re okay.” Chaewon remarked softly.

“I can’t believe Kaeun unnie likes your potato salad. It’s the most boring thing to ever grace my palate.” Yena chuckled.

Chaewon rolled her eyes at Yena’s childish antics. At least she was healthy enough to joke around.

“I’m going to wake the others and we’ll go to Yeonhee’s place to meet Eunchae. I’ll leave Yuri and a few others here with you to help you with whatever you need. Remember what Kaeun unnie said. We can’t have you hurting yourself even more.”

Chaewon turned to walk away, but she felt Yena grab her hand lightly.

“Where’s Eunbi unnie? Is she okay?” Yena asked innocently.

Chaewon felt her guilt return in full force. It was her fault for not being careful when hiding the food. It was because of her that this whole situation had even happened.

“She…she…”

“Don’t say anymore, I understand.” Yena replied, her face growing serious.

Chaewon nodded and began to walk away, her head hanging in defeat.

“Chaewon-ah!” Yena called suddenly.

Chaewon turned around, expecting Yena to ask about what happened or blame her for what happened. However, Yena flashed her a smile. A genuine smile full of happiness and gratitude.

“Thank you, for not giving up on us. You could have let them leave me to die, but you came back for me. And now you’re going back for Eunbi unnie. You always talk about how selfless Eunbi unnie is and how you aspire to be like her, but the truth is you’ve always been like her. You were always by our side, and neither one of you gave up on us even when we had practically nothing. So thank you.”

Chaewon broke down in tears, moved beyond words by Yena’s kindness. To Chaewon’s surprise, she felt someone lean in next to her and hug her, muttering reassurance in a soothing tone.

“Unnie, you shouldn’t be out of bed.” She remarked.

“Uh…I’m not.” Yena’s voice replied from a further distance.

Chaewon looked up, surprised to see Sakura by her side instead. The princess was still hugging Chaewon, a small smile on her face.

“I know the guilt was killing you, and I know I’m still just a stranger but I hope that you know that even I could see your generosity since the day we met. You were the one who shielded the younger ones from me when you guys first “abducted” me. From the very first time I laid my eyes on you, I knew that you were selfless and kind. So please stop giving yourself grief over not being like Eunbi. You are Chaewon, and you don’t need to be like someone else to prove your worth. And please, stop feeling guilty about yesterday. It wasn’t your fault. I wasn’t there to see what happened, but you can’t keep blaming yourself for this. The soldiers are the ones who barged in here. You weren’t the one who fired the gun at Yena, and you weren’t the one who dragged Eunbi away. I know you feel bad for leaving Eunbi behind, but if you had gotten arrested with her, Yena would’ve died and we probably could’ve died too! You saved our lives yesterday, and now let’s go save Eunbi’s life too.”

Chaewon wiped away her tears, refreshed by Sakura’s words. She had never viewed herself in that way before, and she realised how much she had been doubting herself. Sakura was right, she couldn’t live in guilt and self pity forever.

“Let’s wake up the others up. Eunchae is waiting for us at Yeonhee’s place. Then, let’s save Eunbi unnie.”