My purchases made, I continued on to the tea house that I had reserved for my appointment, the large red-stone building situated in the eastern part of the city. Located in the city’s most well to do area, bookings for refreshment here would sometimes require planning months in advance. But a benefit of my position as part of the imperial family and General of the army was that I could use the property as much as I wanted.

I didn’t exercise this often; there were too many ears in such places and for most things I required more secluded destinations. But today I would be meeting with my longtime associates and our collisions were not only for business but for enjoyment as well. This would be the first time I had seen them in months and I was eager to speak with them about WonJong’s current situation and honestly enjoy the company of my friends.

On foot the journey didn’t take long and myself and my guard had arrived before anyone else. We were greeted by the establishment’s manager, his face split by a wide smile.

“General please follow me, your room is on the second floor,” the man spoke politely, his head bowed as he held out one arm gesturing for me to go ahead of him. He guided me from behind with simple instructions and after climbing a set of stairs I came to the third door on the right, this floor comprised of seven such private rooms. They were spaced out evenly and the walls were built thicker here than the downstairs rooms. We would have as much privacy as this place afforded and I tipped the man with jeohwa note and he bowed once more as he left in thanks.

I advised my guard to wait outside the room and I went into the spacious accommodation on my own. Behind the slatted door was a large room that was made bright by two large windows carved out of the opposite wall. Wooden floors were covered with a thick carpet and low wooden chairs surrounded a huge table made of yew. It would have been customary to remove my shoes, but I couldn’t be without my boots in case of attack. I left them on and took a place at the table; I didn’t have to wait long before someone arrived.

“Yoongi hyungnim,” a voice called out, one honey-like in nature. With light steps and a flash of a pale hand, the door was pulled open to reveal Park JuWon, his grayish blue pho placed over a white undershirt.

The younger boy smiled easily at me, a mischievous grin forcing the sides of his eyes into a squint. Excitable but with hidden depths, he took a seat across the table from me and quickly pulled a cushion next to his side to allow him to rest against it. Lax and decadent is what JuWon appeared to be, but he had a way of finding information and wasn’t averse to using deadly means to get it. His contacts spanned the continent and he pulled people to his side easily. I had made it my duty to keep myself from becoming a ruler and keeping WonJong firmly in line to inherit the throne. All these things required that I have consistent knowledge on the inner workings of the palace and I depended on JuWon for it.

The room’s door was opened yet again and two more men stood in the doorway. One unassuming while the other looked ready to embrace everyone in the room, both men entered and took their respective seats. I couldn’t avoid the clasping of my arm in greeting from one, the closest amount of physical contact I allowed even my best friends. The fresh-faced man in front of me had his hair tied up in a queue and his mouth was pulled widely into a smile. Unassuming and friendly to a fault, Jung ChulMoo was my eyes, ears, and more often these days then not, my hands out in the world. He was also my right-hand man; out of all the men I kept around me, he was the one I trusted the most to act as I would in any given situation. Despite his geniality, he had a surprisingly cool head.

ChulMoo had entered with Kim Kyu and the taller man’s legs were stretched out underneath the table, his demeanor easy as he took in the room with hooded eyes. He nodded at me once in greeting and then went back to silently watching; after ChulMoo’s exuberance, his reaction was more amusing. I watched him as he looked for easy exits and I was sure he had scoped out the rest of the establishment just as thoroughly. The young man was thoughtful and dangerous in the extreme as any master assassin should be. I had found Kyu when I had been a young man and he was still on the threshold of childhood. Attempting to flee after his own form of spying had gone wrong, he very literally bumped into me. I had cleaned up his mess, given the boy a place to stay and in the same day gained his fealty. I had my best men train Kyu to take over for the then spy-master and he had done his job beautifully. Kyu was a finely honed knife, one slice was all it took.

The last of my two friends finally showed up some minutes later, both lightly tanned as I was from the harsh sun. My two generals who I had elevated in rank once my injury had made it clear that I’d never be able to return to the front lines, Chae MinJun and Kim YongJu were both b with tactical intelligence. MinJun gave me a smile that was all teeth and YongJu a reserved nod. Both had their merits; YongJu was extremely clever and his ideas had led to victories countless times over. MinJun had daring in spades and could led the men into a losing battle with enough confidence that they would rally and fight against those odds. We had been barrack mates in the military and though most of the men around us had wanted to keep their distance from a royal, these two had never eschewed my presence. With their talents, I could continue to protect WonJong from the outside.

          Now that everyone was here, a waiter came in to get our order and in no time at all our food had arrived. Eight dishes sat around the table and after everyone had said their pleasantries, they fell to the food like wolves. I had an appetite of my own after a busy day, and I reached for the jeotgal and jorigae, the mouth-watering seafood and heavy smells of spicy meat enticing in the extreme. There was only the clicking of chopsticks against china bowls as we ate in silence, all of us long used to court etiquette. We had consumed almost everything on the table before we sat back into our chairs, our bellies heavy and our tongues satiated.

“I’ve heard of an assassination attempt on the Jeonha,” JuWon said abruptly as he dipped his hands in scented water and wiped away the moisture on a pure white cloth he’d pulled from somewhere on his person. The men around me stilled and looked at JuWon, their expressions as grim as my own.

“Is it a reliable source?” MinJun hyungnim questioned, his voice low but clear.

“An old servant in the jeonha’s naegung. She hears everything.” JuWon said nothing else though I knew his mind was no slouch in the areas of deception. This was no easy thing to find out and the penalty for discussing these things outside of the palace was death.

“The king will became paranoid, we could use this to our advantage,” YongJun muttered thoughtfully.

“A paranoid king is a king that kills,” ChulMoo corrected, his tone lightly scolding. “If we push him further then he could turn against the princes.”

“Not his favorite son,” Kyu replied and ChulMoo gave him a wry smile.

“He killed his brother and cousins, possibly his father. What’s a son in comparison when he has two more to spare?”

“We need to be careful and alert WonJong of the threat. It is our duty to protect the prince,” I told the men around me. “We need to make sure that whoever was responsible for this is found. But our work can only lead jeonha’s people in the right direction.”

“Will you go to the palace?” JuWon asked lightly, his brown eyes staring into mine. I knew what he really meant, but I wouldn’t go back to that fiery pit so easily. I shook my head in the negative.

“It would be easier if you could take over, our dear General isn’t afraid of a fight,” MinJun teased with a chuckle and I rolled my eyes at his words. Every man was afraid of death, I just hid it better than most people. Having a more active role in the inner workings of the palace meant that I was susceptible to being used in turn. This duplicity had never sat well with me, so as soon as I was old enough, I had left my side courtyard for my own land inheritance.

“Ha! What would he do in the palace? He’s a fighter, not a scholar, nor yet a yangban,” YongJu retorted disparagingly, his hate of the upper class bleeding through his words. His family had been harshly treated by our country’s ruling class; I couldn’t fault him for his ire.

“Certainly he wouldn’t make use of the naegung, a harem full of women would remain untouched in his presence,” JuWon jokingly lamented.

“How can you be so sure?” ChulMoo asked with a grin and JuWon leaned in close and made as if he was about to tell a secret.

“Well the concubine in his own home hasn’t even been visited, let alone touched. If he won’t with one, he surely wouldn’t with a hundred.” My so-called friends let out peals of raucous laughter at these words, and I gritted my teeth when it had continued for far too long.

I slammed the table with one hand but the men in front of me remained non-plussed at my anger. “JuWon! I told you to keep your spies out of my home. Kyu, you were supposed to be watching him.”

Kyu finally smiled and the effect transformed his face; he suddenly looked his age, the same as JuWon. Both boys had been brought together by me and it seemed that Kyu really only laughed when JuWon was around.

“Don’t get upset. Tell us why you haven’t visited the woman?” He tried to soothe and I calmly picked up the empty cups that had fallen to the wayside when I’d hit the table.

“I’ve been busy,” I deflected, unwilling to say more.

“I see several women per night, yet this hyungnim gets a concubine before I do. My loose ways haven’t done me any favors,” JuWon playfully bemoaned his fate. “Surely you should find out the pleasures of having a woman to come home to at night?”  

“No more talk of this,” I muttered wearily and the men’s teasing moved on to other topics easily. As they jested amongst themselves I couldn’t help but think of my sowon. I had purchased her garments today, but I had no idea what she would enjoy wearing, had no ideas of how she was as a person, and what made me the most ashamed was that I didn’t even know her name. She had simply been my sowon in my head and during my recovery my mind hadn’t often wandered to thoughts of her.

But my friend’s teasing had brought her to the forefront once more. I had prepared gifts but had never shown myself intentionally to her. I had no idea of her thoughts or her character; perhaps her requests to read and write were of no consequence and didn’t have anything to do with her intelligence. In fact I knew not if she had learned anything at all in these past few months. The most I had bothered to do was ask GiTae if she was still well. As my time with my friends wore on, the more I thought of the woman who was supposed to be mine.

My co-conspirators and I had thought up several plans that night and after our planning they had imbibed freely while I had taken my own drink at a more sedate pace. By the end of it, three of my best men were laid out on the floor and two others stared at me foolishly with red and bleary eyes. I had sent them all to their respective homes by way of my own carriages and I had walked home in order to clear my mind. The next day had dawned and I had risen without a pounding headache thanks to yesterday’s restraint.

My morning went as usual and my training was complete by the time the sun had climbed to a good height into the sky. I washed eagerly and then made my way to my study, GiTae once again by my side. He told me of the day’s necessities as I sat down in my chair and as almost an afterthought, he explained that the clothing I’d ordered had been delivered.

“Bring it here, I would like to bring it to my sowon personally.” I didn’t explain and GiTae only looked at me for a second longer than normal before he called for a servant. They returned quickly with the package and I left my part of the property to make my way along the stone path that led to the only other building on this high hill. A feeling of anticipation flowed through me and I wondered at the emotion. What would I learn about her on this day and what would I allow her to know about me?

A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back to the story, I do hope you enjoyed part two of Yoongi's chapter. It seemed short to me but then I looked at the full chapter and it was about 15 pages... I think I'm setting the bar too high lol. This chapter is a bit late in coming; some of you may know that I just released my first full length novel on Amazon, a retelling of my Silent Lover fic here on the website. It took a while to add new things and make things as perfect as I could, but I did end up burning myself out. It's currently going for  just 0.99  on the website; I wanted to make sure you all had access to it! You guys can find it right here!  A Silent Lover  Thank you all so much for your continued support and I hope that you guys continue to enjoy my writing, let me know down in the comments below what you think will happen next! Remember to COMMEN, UPVOTE, and SUBSCRIBE for more content! Much love guys, <3!