In response to Howon’s unexpected greeting, Jaesun gaped, Dongwoo laughed with great amusement, and Sungyeol groaned. “Did you have to do that?”

Howon stepped back, looking a bit embarrassed. “I apologize for the violation,” he muttered.

Sungyeol muttered something about “incurable habits,” and Jaesun had to wonder if this Howon was some sort of known womanizer. Although what he had done was perfectly polite, she did not take kindly to being treated like some delicate flower.

The tall boy waved the matter aside. “Anyway, I brought him along mostly because of you, Dongwoo. I figured you could use someone who is more of a match for you.” Although Jaesun felt slightly offended by this remark, her cousin merely grinned. “Certainly.” The two shook hands firmly and walked over to face each other, standing several paces apart. The space they were occupying had been the former town plaza when the city had been far younger and quite a bit smaller. Jaesun remained with Sungyeol by the end, curious to see what would happen.

“This should be very interesting to watch,” Sungyeol remarked, his eyes intent on the two poised figures.

Jaesun said nothing in reply to this and simply watched.

Dongwoo made the first move, leaping forward to clear the gap between himself and his opponent. Howon, fully prepared for this strike, whipped out a dagger to block the attack. There was a small clang as the two blades met. Her cousin lashed out with his free hand, but Howon sidestepped it and lunged forward himself. Dongwoo dodged that successfully.

Howon was very fast, as Jaesun quickly realized. Although he didn’t seem to have the natural and graceful speed and agility that her cousin possessed, he still matched his pace. It was as if he’d been raised to fight.

This wasn’t impossible. His family likely had a military background. That would explain his odd way of greeting her politely.

It soon became apparent to Sungyeol and Jaesun that Dongwoo was getting by on aptitude alone rather than skill. Howon’s moves were much sharper and more calculated and better aimed. After a while, Dongwoo got worn down and slipped up, giving his opponent the opening he needed. It ended with Dongwoo on the ground with Howon’s knife at his throat.

“I surrender,” her cousin said, grinning all the while. Howon lifted the dagger away, hopped off of Dongwoo, and offered a hand to help him up. The leaner boy accepted the hand and stood, brushing the dust off of his clothes.

“That was a good fight,” Howon remarked. He sheathed his blade and dusted himself off as well.

“You won,” said Dongwoo.

“But you held your own for quite a while. I must admit that I am impressed. Sungyeol says you have only been doing this for two months or so.”

“That’s correct.”

“Well, it was pleasure meeting you, but I really must leave before my absence is noticed.” Dipping his head at Sungyeol and Jaesun in turn, Howon walked off at a brisk pace.

“Interesting fellow, this Howon,” Dongwoo said once he was out of earshot.

“I’m sorry about his odd behavior,” Sungyeol sighed, looking over at Jaesun. “It’s his family upbringing. I have yet to cure him of it.”

It seemed she had been right when she had guessed he had connections in the military. “It’s fine. It could have been worse. He could have spat at me,” she joked. Dongwoo chuckled.

“I suppose. Anyway, I will make sure he doesn’t do that next time.”

“Thank you.”

Even as Jaesun said this, however, she began to feel something odd stirring inside her.

When she went to bed that night, she had a mental debate with herself. She wasn’t stupid. It was apparent to her that she was attracted to Howon, for whatever reason.

Actually, the reason wasn’t difficult to come up with. He was strong but composed, direct and confident. He had his path mapped out and was following it quite closely. He was the kind of person she wanted to be. Plus—dare she admit it—he was attractive. Perhaps not in pure looks or even in personal charisma, but something about him caught the eye and didn’t let go.

In all her eighteen years of living she had not really met any boys who had made her feel like this. There were some she had admired or had thought decent-looking, but none of them had captured her attention the way Howon had. Neither had any of the boys she had known courted her. 

Jaesun told herself firmly that she couldn’t afford to be distracted by him. Not in her current state. She had her goals and her priorities, and one mildly handsome stranger was not going to ruin it all for her. It was silly for her to be affected by someone who she had just met. There was no way she would be wasting her time flirting when she could be doing something for her sister and her kingdom. Howon could disappear and never come back into her life, for all she cared.

But a voice at the back of her mind and a small part of her heart whispered that she wished to see him again and prove herself more than just a hand to be kissed, a mere spectator to the action.

***

The next time she saw Howon was a few days later when she was reporting to Sungyeol on her findings for the week.

“Why is he here?” she asked, pointing at Howon, who sat at the back of the small room the tavern owner had provided for the purpose of housing the commoners’ conspiracy headquarters. All of the important papers were written in code and spelled to look like normal papers. In the event that someone should break in and try to do something, the papers would appear to burn up but in fact get transferred to a safe location. As with the meeting room, the walls were spelled against eavesdroppers.

Part of the organization of the conspiracy was that, for the large part, nobody knew all of the information being gathered besides those who were higher up. That way, should anyone be caught and questioned, they could honestly say they didn’t know.

“It’s fine, Jaesun. This information would eventually reach him anyway.”

“Oh.” She glanced over at the other boy, who simply gazed back at her with a very small smile. She wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Well, what did you find out?” Sungyeol prompted.

She didn’t need any further encouragement. Grabbing up a quill and paper, she jotted down the code she had memorized. “Here. I also went and decoded it, so here’s what it says.” In the space between the lines—she had deliberately left plenty of room there—she wrote out the contents of the message. That accomplished, she explained who and what she thought the words referred to and cited her reasons for such. Sungyeol nodded as she spoke, and she had a feeling that Howon was observing her closely the entire time.

“So, may I leave now?” she asked. She didn’t want to spend any more time around Howon than necessary.

“Of course. Thank you for your work.”

Jaesun simply shrugged. “All of it is for the kingdom.” She didn’t feel comfortable mentioning her sister around a stranger.

Her job finished, she left the room and the tavern. However, before she could walk a few steps in the direction of the tavern that she worked and stayed at, somebody tapped her on the shoulder from behind. She turned around, fully expecting Sungyeol, or even her cousin, but found Howon instead.

“What do you want?” she asked. The moment she uttered the words, she knew she was being rather harsh. And the boy would have no idea why and think she was rude.

But he didn’t even blink. “Would you like for me to accompany to your destination?”

“No, thank you, I am fine,” Jaesun answered, even though a part of her was screaming at her to seize the opportunity. “I don’t need an . I can hold my own against pretty much any danger around here.”

“I apologize if I implied that you required protection, but I only meant my statement as an offer to keep you company. To offer some conversation and such.” He bowed to her.

She realized that she had no justifiable reason to decline this offer without appearing extremely discourteous. “Very well. I accept.” The steely part of her mind was already kicking at her, whereas the other part congratulated her on a job well done. She wanted to shove both of the voices away, but they continued to heckle her as she walked on with Howon at her side.