Chapter 17; Trick

“Thank you, Kai,” Su Min says, smiling politely as she bows her head. He waves it off as if it’s no big deal. But allowing four strangers to stay with you--feeding them, clothing them, allowing them these common amenities is a big deal to Su Min and the boys. As Kai hurries off to start on the clothes, Su Min slows her pace to talk to the boys. “Damn, he is like a god, right?. No, he’s better than a god. He’s like...”

“Su Min that’s gross!” Tao screeches, squirming slightly as his nose wrinkles.

She rolls her eyes and folds her arms over her chest, a smirk on her face. “All I’m saying is, if I wasn’t on a mission, I would climb that tree.” she confesses, throwing her hands up in the air afterwards. Xiumin and Kyungsoo let out loud cries of anguish at that, both of them scolding the previously composed girl. They can’t help but wonder when she became a craving nut. Probably when she laid eyes on Kai.

“He’s not that great,” Kyungsoo whines. He holds his arms up, revealing absolutely no muscle. “Look at me! I’m built.” he says cockily. Su Min rolls her eyes as she strolls beside him. Pushing his head with her pointer finger, she nearly knocks him down. Xiumin sticks his tongue out at her and mumbles something along the lines of ‘he would never go for you anyways’.

“He would too!” she retorts.

Tao clucks his tongue. “You’re a bit manish for someone like that,” he laughs. “He’d probably be intimidated by your man-like eating habits and overwhelming burliness.” The boys let out loud cackles of laughter at this, each of them prodding Su Min with their fingers, begging for her to explode. But, much to their disappointment, she remains unnaturally calm.

“I’ll show you,” she mumbles quietly. “I can be girly.”

- - -

“Here,” Kai says, smiling as he hands Su Min a few packages of clothes. Inside each package is warrior gear of the finest quality. The kind of quality you can only get when you get it tailored for yourself. Similarly, Kai’s older sister hands each of the boys their gear. It’s much more suitable for traveling and fighting than what they were wearing.

Su Min grabs Kai’s arm quickly. “Can I ask you something?” she requests as she pulls him away from the others. He nods in response, curious as to what else she might need. “Do you have any hanboks that would fit me?” Su Min asks, blinking her brown eyes at him. Kai seems taken aback suddenly but he nods and leads her to the back of the shop, where the most elegant and gorgeous hanboks are.

“You can have one, free of charge,” he says. “It’s on me.”

She’s taken aback at first and she shakes her head, not sure if that’s right. “I couldn’t,” she breathes. Kai pushes her forward, closer to the hanboks, obviously insistent that she take one. She sighs loudly and nods. “Fine, I’ll take this one.” she announces. Kai smiles at her choice and quickly calls his sister over to help Su Min dress in it.

After nearly thirty minutes of battling to get into the hanbok, Su Min emerges. Kai’s sister, Joomin, helped her to do her hair as well. Her hair lies like a dark blanket over her shoulders, two pieces braided in the back and laced with flowers. The hanbok she wears has a creamy yellow skirt and flower decorated white fabric is wrapped around her chest. The hanbok jacket is made of white lace and the ribbon that ties it all together is red.

The four boys turn to watch her as she walks in, holding her skirt up slightly so the bottom won’t get dirty. She bows her head towards the boys and then looks back up to meet their gazes. Tao’s mouth falls open as he stares at his previously boyish companion. “Su Min you look--” he begins, “gorgeous.” She smiles lightly at him and pads forward, surprising everyone as she leans towards Kai and places a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Then, she turns to Tao and smirks. “What was that about me being too manly?”

- - -

Kai raises his hand in farewell as his four new friends go out to explore the city. Su Min, still outfitted in her hanbok, glides through the streets with surprising grace. It comes with being a fighter, except instead of using that grace to fly across the battlefield, she’s using it to traipse down the crowded cobblestone streets. “Who knew, Su Min can actually be pretty.” Kyungsoo sighs, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Xiumin chuckles. “I knew,” he mumbles, but no one seems to hear. Passing men turn to watch Su Min, their eyes glued to her as she glides past them. Her hair flows freely behind her, the wind picking it up and letting it flow behind her. Tao and Kyungsoo mutter curses at each of them as Xiumin sends sharp glares. Su Min is their girl. And, yes, as much as they hate to admit it--they’re jealous.

Su Min pauses upon seeing a small child curled up on the side of the street, crying. A little girl. She approaches the girl and kneels down to look down at her, not caring that her dress might get dirty. Passerby watch in wonder as the beauty extends her hand towards the child; offering her help when no one else will. She takes the child to a food vendor and buys her rolls and meat.

“Ahjumma, when she’s done, can you take her to a ranger? I think she’s lost her mother.”

The old lady frowns. “She doesn’t have a mother, sweety,” she admits. Su Min frowns and looks down at the little girl, pitying her. She knows what it’s like to not have a mother. “I’ll take her to the orphanage after I finish here, okay?” the woman offers. Su Min frowns and nods, patting the little girl on the back before leaving. Seeing a kid with no parents hurts.

A lot.

Su Min sighs and walks along in silence, twiddling her thumbs absently as she goes. People shriek as they’re pushed aside by a boy with shaggy brown hair. The boy is none other than Kai, but he looks panicked and shaky and that look of sorrow in his eyes is replaced with fear. “My sister,” he gasps, leaning on Su Min for support, his brown eyes looking into hers.

Xiumin frowns, shaking Kai slightly as he takes on the role of leader. “What about your sister?” he demands, forcing the younger boy to look at him. Kai looks hurt as he stares at Xiumin, breathing heavily from his run. Xiumin tries again, “What about your sister!?”

“They’ve taken her to the Gisaeng House!”

Su Min snaps to life, her eyes narrowing. “Why would they take her? Did she commit a crime?” she asks, making Kai look at her. He looks exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes making him looks years older. “Kai,” Su Min snaps, “if you want help, you need to talk, okay?”

He nods at this. “We couldn’t pay our bills so they took her. If we still can’t pay, they’re going to h-hang me.” Kai announces. Su Min gulps, not liking the sound of that. Hangings are brutal--they never just hang you--that would be too kind. They parade you through the streets, letting the towns people throw rocks at you. Then they beat you to a pulp. And then they hang you. If you don’t die immediately--they snap your neck.

“Wait a second,” Kyungsoo says, stepping forward. “You were just being nice to us in hopes of making us spend more money. Or worse, you were planning on stealing our money as we slept, weren’t you? So you could pay your bills...That’s sick!” he growls, jabbing his fingers at Kai, who frowns and nods. Su Min looks hurt at this but she quickly regains her composure.

Straightening her shoulders, she turns to face the boys. “We will help him. But he’s an enemy now. After we help him, we will decide on his punishment.” she suggests. Kai looks anxious as the boys nod, sending him dirty glares all the while. Kai leads them to the Gisaeng House--which is located near the governor’s palace. They wait outside in the shadows, crouching so as to not be caught.

“I’ll be honest,” Su Min sighs, “I don’t have a plan.”

Tao raises his hand awkwardly. “I do, but I don’t think you’ll be fond of it.” he admits.

Author's Note;

► Hello, hello. Wow, Su Min, you would climb that tree? Lovely. And Kai, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!? UGH. UGH. And she kisses him--on the cheek. Whatislife. Joomin has been taken! Ohnoes~ Su Min and company to the rescue OTL Are you guys enjoying this story? I hope so! ^^ In other news, Peyton is going to do some free advertising right now. If you're not interested, feel free to stop reading this author's note now.

Six Months--Tao and OC--focuses around a girl who's dieing of a terminal disease. [Complete]

The First Love Effect--Luhan and OC--focuses around a girl who wants revenge on her first love and his family. [Ongoing]

The Maid's Secret--Jongin "Kai" and Krystal--focuses around a girl who becomes a maid in order to achive a dream of hers. [Ongoing]

We Have A Family--EXO and Chosen Applicants--a combo of WGM, Hello Baby, and Romantic & Idol [applicants needed]

Champs--SM's Newest Girl Group--EXO and Chosen Applicants--apply fic about a girl group [applicants needed]

Enchanted--EXO and Chosen Applicants--five girls discover that they are in fact royal princesses [story starting]

fAme--Chosen Applicants--apply fic about a girl group [story starting]

Ice Petal Assassins--EXO and Chosen Applicants--a story about six female assassins whose mission is to protect the twelve princes [accepting applications]

Madly--Luhan and OC--focuses around an eccentric girl who's obsessed with one boy and will do everything to make him like her. [Ongoing]

► Peyton