“Your Highness, you cannot be walking around with your injury,” Sun said. He blocked Min-jun’s path out of the building, but unfortunately for him, one of them was royalty, and the other was not. Sun could not restrain him by force, as that would only anger the King who doted on him so (whether it be for show or not was anyone’s guess). Taking full advantage of this, Min-jun pushed Sun out of the way and continued to walk out into the sunlight. As a child, he’d hated being cooped up inside. After all, he’d spent the first few years of his life among the mountains, climbing trees and jumping into crystal clear waters. Being a courtesan had made him more accustomed to confinement.
Frost had already settled on the grass. Winter would be here soon. Min-jun walked through the garden, among the fall foliage, and caught sight of Mai throwing a stick for Chuchu. She wore her usual hanbok of green and blue, standing out against the warm reds and oranges of the garden. It only took a few seconds for Chuchu to sense him, and then the dog dove straight toward Min-jun, kicking up bits of grass as he ran. The sight of Chuchu seemed to chase away all of Min-jun’s worries, at least momentarily. Chuchu pawed at his leg, offering up the stick for Min-jun to throw. Now, Min-jun was less than thrilled by the dirt Chuchu had rubbed off on the silk of his hanbok, but he ignored it and threw the stick as far as he could. As Chuchu ran to retrieve it, Min-jun crossed the yard to Mai.
“Glad to see you got home safe and sound,” he told her, as he sat down in the grass. His ankle ached despite the balm he’d put on it before he went out. He rolled it a bit and winced.
“What happened to your foot?” Mai asked, sitting down as well, albeit a bit reluctantly.
“Twisted it,” he said. “What happened to your gloves?”
Mai clenched her hands together as if that would hide them from him. The ones she wore now were nearly identical to the other pair she’d worn.
“I got tired of the other ones.”
Min-jun gave her a doubtful look. “Remember who you’re lying to, Mai. Why would you get another pair of gloves nearly identical to your old ones unless something had happened to them and you didn’t want me to know?”
The look she gave him then could only be described as contempt. “You’re such a . . . know-it-all.”
“Oh? Then since I know everything, I suggest you tell me the truth.” After all, if someone was targetting Mai, it would be best to deal with them personally. Teach them that despite their low status, both Mai and Min-jun were members of the royal family now.
Mai wrung her hands, her face creasing with lines of worry. “They were tossed into a puddle.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ds ktb?”
Zjl rwlifv, yea la ibbxfv qjlcfv rbwftbk, ylaafg. “Vbwf ygjar ogbw atf jmjvfws.”
Ktfs’v ajxfc atf bqqbgaeclas ktlif tf kjr jkjs. Qtja mbkjgvis yftjnlbg. Lf’v vfnlrf j ragjafus bc tbk ab vfji klat atfw ijafg. Ufgtjqr fnfc yglcu atf Blcu lc bc atf qijc.
“Tbe vlvc’a xlii atfw, vlv sbe?” tf jrxfv, lc jc jaafwqa ab ilutafc atf wbbv.
As usual, Mai did not share his sense of humor. Kids these days. “I’m not stupid. My life now is good. I can’t let it go for anything.”
Otherwise, we’ll have to go back to Mother.
The unspoken words hung in the air. The palace might be suffocating, back-stabbing, a breeding ground for paranoia and betrayal, and despite it all, it was still better than Mother’s abode. Anything was better than being under her watch. The King was a criminal and a murderer, but he did not lash out against those he deemed useful. Min-jun could only hope his usefulness wouldn’t run out the way it had with Mother. And perhaps . . . perhaps there was a part of the King that held the pieces of the kind boy Min-jun once loved.
Ah, but you’ll have to kill him soon. And then what? What will you do?
There was no use in pondering it.
“So, who were they? Describe them to me.” Min-jun said, leaning back on the palms of his hands.
“You sound like his Majesty.”
“I do not,” Min-jun said. “I’m only showing concern.”
“That’s something he’d say, too.”
Min-jun let out a small laugh of disbelief. “I have never been so offended in my life, Young Lady Mai.”
Mai wrinkled her nose, but a smile was slowly blooming on her face. “Don’t call me ‘lady’, it’s weird.”
Chuchu had returned with the stick between his jaws. The dog placed it in the grass, tail wagging. It was now covered in drool. Min-jun picked up gingerly, disgust rolling in his stomach. He threw it again, as far as he could by just holding the end. He saw Mai roll her eyes.
“What?”
“Have you always been so easily repulsed?”
Min-jun shrugged. “I suppose.” Though from the time he was eight, he could walk into a crime scene without even flinching. Blood, mangled bodies, such things didn’t faze him too much. “So. The boys? What did they look like? What did they do?”
“You’re only going to make things worse.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “I can deal with them myself.”
“I’m sure you can,” Min-jun told her, “but there’s no reason you should have to.”
“I’m strong.”
We all are. Too strong to need help, too useless to be worth anything.
“We were never strong,” Min-jun murmured. We just had something to live for. “And it has never been a reason to take everything upon ourselves. Burdens are to be carried together, Mai. You do not have to tell me about the boys, but if there is something bothering you, then you should not have to bear it alone.” They were stolen words. Su-jin’s, from when she’d tried to convince him of the same thing. ‘Let me bear some of your burdens, Jun-ah.’ He’d brushed her off back then, although he knew it hurt her to feel so helpless. What could he have done? Let her join him in the brothel as a maid? Include her in the plot to kill the King? Absolutely not. He’d rather drink poison than subject her to any fraction of that world. Your world?
A sniffle brought his attention back to her face. Mai’s lower lip trembled. Before he could say anything else, tears had begun to trickle down her face. Her eyes were wide open as if surprised by her own self.
“Mai.” Min-jun hadn’t meant to make her cry, and now he wasn’t sure how to comfort her. His hand rested on her shoulder. “It’s alright. It’s alright.”
Mai turned to him and rested her head on his shoulders, sobbing all the while. In return, Min-jun embraced her, albeit a bit awkwardly. Inside, he couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. She hadn’t cried like this since they’d first met, and back then, it had been out of frustration. Frustration at herself for not being able to kill him, frustration that her father had been taken from her. Anger, fear. This was different from those sorts of tears.
Grief. Healing.
Envy struck him like a needle through the heart. The last tears he had shed had been on the day he agreed to join the Kisaeng house, and those hadn’t been anything like this. He felt broken beyond repair.
I do not think I would be able to cry like this, even if I wanted to, even if I needed it more than anything in the world.
As always, he was too afraid to reach that far inside his heart.
A/N: Hello everyone! We need to have a fandom name. Please leave suggestions in the comments so I have a nickname to call you guys lol. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully, the next few will be more action-packed (action-packed? In my writing? I think not). If you did enjoy this chapter, please leave a comment down below.
Murder muffin protection squad!!
I love that idea!