Vagabond [va-gə-ˌbänd] n. - an idle wanderer without a permanent home or visible means of support

“Han Agassi, your driver, Jaesuk, has arrived and is waiting for you outside,” the woman Mihyun recognized as the receptionist of the front desk came to inform her.

Mihyun glanced down at her watch, and frowned when the time of 5:00 flashed back at her. “He shouldn’t be picking me up for another hour, did he explain why he has come so early?”

The receptionist shook her head and simply stated that Jaesuk requested that she would leave at that moment.

“Do you have to go?” Baekhyun pouted as he childishly wrapped his arms around Mihyun’s leg to prevent her from leaving.

Mihyun chuckled at the other’s immature behavior, and she her leg gently to loosen his grip. “I don’t want to keep Jaesuk waiting for long. If he has come early, he must have good reason to do so.” When she was met with the pouts of Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, she simply laughed and promised that she would return the next day at a much earlier time than usual. That seemed to be a satisfactory deal to the two, so they waved her goodbye with large smiles stretched across their faces.

“Good evening Agassi,” Jaesuk greeted her as she walked out of the Noye house.

She returned the greeting to her relatively young chauffeur and tilted her head in confusion, “Why are we leaving so early today, Jaesuk?”

“It’s your father’s request,” Jaesuk explained as he opened the passenger door for the girl. “Apparently the runaways of the Noye riot have gotten as far as Seoul, now, so your father would prefer for you to be safely situated at home before the sun begins to set.”

Mihyun bit down on her bottom lip, but nodded her head as she climbed into the car. Of course her father would right away assume that the runaway Noyes would have nothing better to do than to wreak nothing but havoc.

It seemed as though Jaesuk had come to fetch her at quite a good time, because no more than a few minutes had passed after they began driving that rain began to splatter against the roof of the car.

Mihyun trained her gaze at the waving trees and dancing rain drops outside of the window, and let her thoughts travel. She had been serious when she spoke of having their own Noye rebellion there in Seoul, and she planned on following through, even if she didn’t have the support of a majority of the Noyes. She would show them soon enough that they were capable of getting a taste of freedom if they just mustered up the courage and motivation to fight for it. It would be hard, but it would be worth it in the end, wouldn’t it?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that the pace of the car was beginning to slow down. Too little time had passed for them to possibly have arrived home already.

“Jaesuk, what is wrong?” Mihyun asked with furrowed eyebrows when the car stilled to a stop. The car’s engine cut off abruptly, and all she could hear was the heavy pattering of rain against the roof of the car.

“There seems to be a body collapsed on the road, Agassi,” Jaesuk responded in a frighteningly calm voice as he stared at the possibly dead body. “Would you like me to take another road?”

His question had gone unheard, because Mihyun had already exited the car and was running towards the soaking body. Jaesuk sighed as he pulled an umbrella from the compartment to shield his Agassi from the hard rain.

Mihyun rolled the man onto his back, searching his body for any visible wounds. She was relieved to see that there weren’t any physical wounds, nor was there blood decorating his shirt. She pressed her fingers against the man’s abnormally cold wrist, and hoped to feel a pulse beat against her skin. Mihyun took a shaky breath of relief when she managed to detect a weak pulse, and looked up at Jaesuk who was towering over her with an umbrella in hand.

He recognized the look on his Agassi’s face, and sighed as he stared down at the man. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he shook his head before Mihyun could even open to voice her question. “We cannot take him to a hospital, Agassi.”

“Why is that, Jaesuk?” Mihyun asked with narrowed eyes, almost daring him to speak against her wishes.

“Look at his neck, Agassi, do you not recognize that mark?” Jaesuk asked quietly.

Mihyun’s eyes drifted up to the man’s pale neck, and she spotted the small tattoo carved in the shape of a sun. “He’s a Noye.”

“Not just any Noye, Agassi. The sun is the symbol of Gwangju, which means that is a rebelling Noye of the city. If we are to take him to the hospital, he will be killed within a minute,” Jaesuk explained.

Mihyun bit hard on her bottom lip, not knowing what she should do. If she were to leave him out here, he would die, but if she was to take him to safety, he would still meet the same fate. With a sigh she stood on her feet, “Let’s bring him home, Jaesuk.”

Jaesuk wasn’t surprised with her decision, and uttered no words of protest. Already he was used to the kind hearted soul of his Agassi, and although often her decisions seemed to be foolish, he knew that she made each of them with the uttermost caution.

“Yes, Agassi,” Jaesuk bowed as he handed Mihyun the umbrella. He bent down to slip his arms under the shivering body of the man, and lifted him up to put in the car. “Will you be okay with this stranger at your side, Agassi?”

Mihyun nodded his head, and Jaesuk proceeded to lay his wet body against the leather seats of the car, cringing mentally at the thought of having to clean after the stranger’s mess later on.

Mihyun climbed in shortly after, and turned the knob next to her to increase the heat in the back of the car. She pried the man’s sopping wet jacket off of him, and laid it on the seat next to her. She frowned as she stared at the man’s shivering body, and shrugged out of her own jacket to lay it across the stranger.

“Jaesuk, please notify Dr. Jang that we would require his assistance,” Mihyun called out as she brushed the stranger’s wet hair from his eyes. She knew that she could trust the man to tend to the stranger’s health without spreading the news to the officials. Almost everyone would jump at the chance of snitching on the whereabouts of a runaway Noye to receive a grand payment in return, but Dr. Jang would do no such thing. He had lost his own brother he had died under the title of being a Noye, and wanted nothing more than their freedom.

“Yes, Agassi,” Jaesuk nodded already dialing in a number to call.

“And Jaesuk, please don’t notify my father of this event,” Mihyun added in quietly.

Jaesuk nodded his head knowingly. “Yes, Agassi.”

The young man may have been hired by Chando, but his loyalty lied with the kind daughter of the family. He would do whatever the girl wished, and cared for her as if she was his own daughter. Similarly to how Sehun had been the savior of Mihyun’s belief in humanity, Mihyun was the savior of Jaesuk’s.

Mihyun walked into her bedroom the next morning carrying a tray of steaming porridge and a glass of tea to see the stranger sitting upright on her bed with a confused expression across his face. “You’re awake.”

She watched as the man immediately turned rigid. He darted for the heavy book that was on her bed table and held it up threateningly, “Don’t come any closer.”

Mihyun stared at him for a few seconds before quietly going over to the table to place down the tray. She then stepped towards him, ignoring his protests for her to get away.

“You think I will hurt you,” Mihyun sighed as she stared sadly into the man’s eyes. “What makes you think so? I believe you are at least twice my size, are you not?”

The man glanced down at the tiny girl and his cheeks flushed a bright red at the thought of the tiny human managing to overpower his giant self.

“You are right to be cautious,” Mihyun smiled as she took another step towards the man, watching the book that was in his hand. “I found you on the street last night, you had passed out in the middle of the road.” She clicked her tongue, “If you felt as if you were going to pass out, why would you wait until you were in the middle of a road? Do you not realize that anybody else would have easily just driven over you?”

The man’s hand lowered just the slightest inch at Mihyun’s words.

“I had my doctor inspect you, and he stated that you fainted because you haven’t eaten for a few days, nor have you slept. Do you not know how to take care of your health?” Mihyun sighed as she took another step forward.

The man’s hand lowered a couple of more inches.

“My name is Han Mihyun, what is yours?” Mihyun asked.

The man ignored her question and slowly let out a few words, allowing Mihyun to hear his deep voice for the first time. “Do you know what I am?”

Mihyun cocked her head in confusion at his question. “What do you mean? You’re a human, are you not?”

The man relaxed at the girl’s naivety.

“Oh, do you mean the fact that you are a rebelling Noye?” Mihyun continued. She snapped to the side to abvoid the heavy book that was thrown at her head. “That was rather rude, don’t you think? I was simply answering your question when you had so obviously ignored mine.