Personality: Hak appears to be your typical 'Jerk with a Heart of Gold'. At least on the surface. He enjoys teasing those close to him, pointing out their weaknesses and just overall enjoys making fun of people he feels comfortable around. He tends to be sarcastic and laughs at the expense of others. From the beginning of the series you see him taking insulting shots at Yona, even though she's a princess and he's just a visiting adopted son of one of her father's generals. Teasing her about her affections for her cousin Soo Won or telling her she needs to lose some weight when he's trying to lift her onto a horse are all very common situations. Later, the more members that join their little group, the more he opens up and trusts them, the more he meshes with their quirks and teases them or just adds to the comedy of the series. He's someone that appears to have a personality that would push others away, but Hak is quite personable and well-liked by others. He doesn't shy away from interacting with his world and befriends people easily.
Hak is known to be extremely loyal though. King Il drew his attention and respect during an incident which landed him finally agreeing to serve as Princess Yona's bodyguard after refusing the position several times. Tae Jun, the second son of the current General of the Fire Tribe was pursuing Yona's hand and was not accepting no for an answer. Hak stepped in after a long internal battle with himself, knowing that if he did interfere, he would be required to do so from that point on. His interference angered the son and he began to unsheathe his sword in order to attack both Hak and Yona, but King Il arrived and grasped the sword by the blade to halt the attack. Without a single word of complaint or pain, the King--from all appearances a very dimwitted and happy go lucky sort who detested weapons--calmed the situation while hiding his injury from everyone. Hak didn't miss it though. The incident impacted his opinion of the King from that point on. "This person is no coward."
This loyalty is a little something of a double edged sword though. It's shown his affection for Yona existed from a very young age. But Hak, Yona and Soo Won were all friends and he--the lowest ranking one of the three--was very aware of Yona's affections for Soo Won. It was a relationship he didn't just notice. No, in a rare love triangle format--Hak supported it. His own feelings for Yona were always shoved down because he cared for and respected Soo Won. Eventually those two would be together and it was something he was 100% okay with, because he'd be there protecting the two of them. That’s genuinely how he believed things would go.
Soo Won's betrayal didn't just affect Yona, it affected Hak too. His focus from the beginning has been on getting Yona through it all through everything. His original plans after escaping with Yona to the wind tribe was to denounce his position as their general, give Mundok back the Son name (both of which he did) but the final one was to leave Yona in their care to live out the rest of her life in peace. His intention was to martyr himself, knowing the Kingdom would pin the murder of King Il on him, claiming Hak killed him and kidnapped Yona. His belief was that if they went after him, they would leave Yona alone. When later in the series it's finally his turn to break down when face to face with Soo Won--it's literally devastating and he almost kills himself from pushing himself in the rage and upset it's caused him.
For Yona, Hak has sacrificed his name, his freedom, his future and a number of other things in order to keep her going. Though he likely doesn't view any of these as actual sacrifices, it's not how Yona views it. Though the rest of their companions refer to Yona informally, Hak has been forbidden to do so. By Yona. Unknown to Hak, Yona's goal includes being able to grant Hak his freedom eventually and because of that she attempts to maintain a professional relationship with him. She believes he does everything out of duty, but in reality it's because of their bond and his love for her. Though they have always had a somewhat informal relationship compared to their status.
Hak still only refers to Yona as a princess and appears to have little to no intention of pursuing a relationship because of this. There are hints that King Il was in favor of giving Yona to Hak and took advantage of the two of them trying to trick Tae Jun into believing they were already engaged by giving them his support and forcing Hak into the bodyguard position. It's a stark contrast to his refusal to let Yona marry Soo Won when she asked.
As for Hak, I'm pretty sure even thinking about becoming the next King would be a huge reason to avoid his feelings for Yona like the plague. Everyone in the wind tribe is a little "Ugh I don't want to do that, it sounds like too much work" and Hak is no different. He didn't want to become her bodyguard or the general because of the work and importance of the position, refused the position several times before getting himself cornered into having to accept it. He's extremely laid back about things, almost to the point of being sort of lazy. Thoughts of becoming King and having any sort of power are the furthest thing from his mind. His motivation is Yona, nothing more.
It's this bond they have that brings out one of my favorite traits in Hak though. He's supportive of Yona in a way that very few characters in series like this one are. He loved the spoiled princess Yona and did an amazing job serving as her knight in shining armor. It was needed back then, but Yona continually changes during the series and how Hak handles her has changed to suit.
Early on after almost losing Hak because of her inability to help--Yona wished to take up a weapon to defend not only herself but Hak as well. Hak handed her a bow and arrows and taught her to shoot. He's laid back enough that he's not ever going to just tell her to let him protect her. In fact, it's just the opposite. Hak takes massive pride in Yona's accomplishments. He pretends not to notice she's spending half the night practicing shooting her arrows, but when the time comes for her to use them, he's showing her 110% trust in her abilities and treats her as an equally powerful member of their group.
Yona goes to take on a bandit--giving him a tongue lashing and drawing unneeded attention to their group--Hak is the one laughing with sheer pride as the rest of their group is looking to him to hopefully stop her. But he never does. He backs her up with pride and complete affection, like a doting parent or proud teacher. The stronger she gets, the more amused and excited he gets.
In chapter 76 he nominates her for an archery gambling contest that is happening in a village. Yona is worried, but he just tells her to have fun with it. If she doesn't win, that's fine. She, of course, nails it and Hak's excitement about winning against everyone that bet against her is entirely out of how proud he is of her.
But most of all, in chapter 47, every ounce of his loyalty, support, respect come out in a very perfect way. When Jae Ha was teasing Yona about how Hak would probably want to lock her away and hide her from everyone--he answers her dead seriously. "That's a lie. ...Yeah. If anything it's the exact opposite. I want to let them look at you. That old geezer Mundok, his Magesty Il, those bastards that chased you out of the castle, and the people of Kouka. 'Look! This is the Princess Yona. She's disposed of her hair and has taken up the sword to support this country. She is stronger than anyone. Princess Yona is here.' is what I would tell them."
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Hak is known to be extremely loyal though. King Il drew his attention and respect during an incident which landed him finally agreeing to serve as Princess Yona's bodyguard after refusing the position several times. Tae Jun, the second son of the current General of the Fire Tribe was pursuing Yona's hand and was not accepting no for an answer. Hak stepped in after a long internal battle with himself, knowing that if he did interfere, he would be required to do so from that point on. His interference angered the son and he began to unsheathe his sword in order to attack both Hak and Yona, but King Il arrived and grasped the sword by the blade to halt the attack. Without a single word of complaint or pain, the King--from all appearances a very dimwitted and happy go lucky sort who detested weapons--calmed the situation while hiding his injury from everyone. Hak didn't miss it though. The incident impacted his opinion of the King from that point on. "This person is no coward."
This loyalty is a little something of a double edged sword though. It's shown his affection for Yona existed from a very young age. But Hak, Yona and Soo Won were all friends and he--the lowest ranking one of the three--was very aware of Yona's affections for Soo Won. It was a relationship he didn't just notice. No, in a rare love triangle format--Hak supported it. His own feelings for Yona were always shoved down because he cared for and respected Soo Won. Eventually those two would be together and it was something he was 100% okay with, because he'd be there protecting the two of them. That’s genuinely how he believed things would go.
Soo Won's betrayal didn't just affect Yona, it affected Hak too. His focus from the beginning has been on getting Yona through it all through everything. His original plans after escaping with Yona to the wind tribe was to denounce his position as their general, give Mundok back the Son name (both of which he did) but the final one was to leave Yona in their care to live out the rest of her life in peace. His intention was to martyr himself, knowing the Kingdom would pin the murder of King Il on him, claiming Hak killed him and kidnapped Yona. His belief was that if they went after him, they would leave Yona alone. When later in the series it's finally his turn to break down when face to face with Soo Won--it's literally devastating and he almost kills himself from pushing himself in the rage and upset it's caused him.
For Yona, Hak has sacrificed his name, his freedom, his future and a number of other things in order to keep her going. Though he likely doesn't view any of these as actual sacrifices, it's not how Yona views it. Though the rest of their companions refer to Yona informally, Hak has been forbidden to do so. By Yona. Unknown to Hak, Yona's goal includes being able to grant Hak his freedom eventually and because of that she attempts to maintain a professional relationship with him. She believes he does everything out of duty, but in reality it's because of their bond and his love for her. Though they have always had a somewhat informal relationship compared to their status.
Hak still only refers to Yona as a princess and appears to have little to no intention of pursuing a relationship because of this. There are hints that King Il was in favor of giving Yona to Hak and took advantage of the two of them trying to trick Tae Jun into believing they were already engaged by giving them his support and forcing Hak into the bodyguard position. It's a stark contrast to his refusal to let Yona marry Soo Won when she asked.
As for Hak, I'm pretty sure even thinking about becoming the next King would be a huge reason to avoid his feelings for Yona like the plague. Everyone in the wind tribe is a little "Ugh I don't want to do that, it sounds like too much work" and Hak is no different. He didn't want to become her bodyguard or the general because of the work and importance of the position, refused the position several times before getting himself cornered into having to accept it. He's extremely laid back about things, almost to the point of being sort of lazy. Thoughts of becoming King and having any sort of power are the furthest thing from his mind. His motivation is Yona, nothing more.
It's this bond they have that brings out one of my favorite traits in Hak though. He's supportive of Yona in a way that very few characters in series like this one are. He loved the spoiled princess Yona and did an amazing job serving as her knight in shining armor. It was needed back then, but Yona continually changes during the series and how Hak handles her has changed to suit.
Early on after almost losing Hak because of her inability to help--Yona wished to take up a weapon to defend not only herself but Hak as well. Hak handed her a bow and arrows and taught her to shoot. He's laid back enough that he's not ever going to just tell her to let him protect her. In fact, it's just the opposite. Hak takes massive pride in Yona's accomplishments. He pretends not to notice she's spending half the night practicing shooting her arrows, but when the time comes for her to use them, he's showing her 110% trust in her abilities and treats her as an equally powerful member of their group.
Yona goes to take on a bandit--giving him a tongue lashing and drawing unneeded attention to their group--Hak is the one laughing with sheer pride as the rest of their group is looking to him to hopefully stop her. But he never does. He backs her up with pride and complete affection, like a doting parent or proud teacher. The stronger she gets, the more amused and excited he gets.
In chapter 76 he nominates her for an archery gambling contest that is happening in a village. Yona is worried, but he just tells her to have fun with it. If she doesn't win, that's fine. She, of course, nails it and Hak's excitement about winning against everyone that bet against her is entirely out of how proud he is of her.
But most of all, in chapter 47, every ounce of his loyalty, support, respect come out in a very perfect way. When Jae Ha was teasing Yona about how Hak would probably want to lock her away and hide her from everyone--he answers her dead seriously. "That's a lie. ...Yeah. If anything it's the exact opposite. I want to let them look at you. That old geezer Mundok, his Magesty Il, those bastards that chased you out of the castle, and the people of Kouka. 'Look! This is the Princess Yona. She's disposed of her hair and has taken up the sword to support this country. She is stronger than anyone. Princess Yona is here.' is what I would tell them."