“So what is your relationship to Dongwoo?” Howon asked. His tone was politely curious, but Jaesun wondered if he had some other reason for asking.

“He’s my cousin,” she replied, just as politely.

“Ah. Do you like him?”

“Of course I do.” This seemed like a stupid question to her. “I wouldn’t spend time with someone I don’t like.”

“But do you love him?”

“Not in that way, no.” Marrying your cousin was not unheard of in the least, nor was it uncommon, but the practice had begun to fade out in more recent decades. “Why do you ask?”

“I was simply wondering why you joined this conspiracy. You are one of the few females working for it, after all. I thought perhaps you were in it because he was.”

Jaesun had to resist the urge to snort while rolling her eyes. “That’s not the case at all. In fact, if anyone, I was the one who was more intent on becoming a part of the conspiracy. Sungyeol basically manipulated Dongwoo into doing it.”

“Really, now?”

Howon’s super polite tone was starting to irritate her. “Dongwoo had his doubts about getting entangled in a conspiracy, good intentions or no. I was less reserved because I believed the risk was worth taking and that somebody needed to do something about the direction this kingdom is headed.”

Once again, she left out her sister. Perhaps she might tell him later…why was she even considering that? As if she planned on the boy becoming her friend and confidante.

“We are fortunate that this kingdom has people like you, then.”

Jaesun found herself blushing, something she rarely did. “I’m just doing my part, that’s all. You seem quite dedicated to this cause as well.”

“A lot rests on the success of this grand plan,” Howon answered. “It is less that I volunteered than circumstances drove me to take part in this. I honestly do not have much of a choice.”

She wondered if his family was integral to the conspiracy for him to being saying such things. “But you would have chosen to participate even if you didn’t have those pressures, right?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Then you are no less commendable than me, Howon.” It was the first time she had used his name, and it felt odd dropping off of her tongue. The feeling wasn’t unpleasant, but rather foreign.

“Please, you may call me Hoya. Howon is really rather formal.”

Jaesun couldn’t hold back her snort this time. “At present, I would say it fits you perfectly,” she informed him.

He blinked. “Oh. Curse it.”

This was the least polite that he had been so far, and Jaesun found that she rather enjoyed the changed.

“Sorry, I’ll just drop the formal speech, then. It does get pretty bothersome after a while.”

It was Jaesun’s turn to blink. In a matter of seconds his entire manner had changed. It wasn’t as if he were a different person, but it felt like he had stepped out from behind a translucent curtain or something, and she could see him more clearly.

“I really am sorry about being so uncomfortably formal,” Hoya said. “It’s just how I was raised. Even though I’m out on my own, I always feel like my mother is watching my every move, poised to point out if my back isn’t perfectly straight or my manners aren’t impeccable. Frankly, if she heard me talking to you right now, she would probably yank me by the ear to lecture me about the treatment of women.”

“Well, then…It’s alright. I would have been more annoyed if you had been incredibly rude. Of course.”

“Being rude to you wouldn’t help the cause at all.”

She took the chance to ask him something she had been wondering for a bit. “Does Sungyeol work for you?”

Hoya looked hesitant to answer. “Well, yes. But we are more than just that. We’re friends.”

“That’s good.” They were arriving at the tavern now.

“Why are you here?” he asked her, looking up at the sign with a bit of confusion.

“I work and live here,” she answered. Then she realized she’d given him more information than she intended to. Now, if he wanted to find her, he could. Not that he couldn’t before since he knew Sungyeol and Dongwoo, but he had a direct way of locating her.

“Ah, I was expecting something a little less…”

“Menial?” she filled in for him. “Times are rough. I’ll take whatever I can. I don’t have connections keeping me afloat.”

“Well, no, that’s not it. I just thought you sounded better educated than most around these parts.”

“My parents were insistent on raising me with a decent education,” Jaesun replied, going into her natural defensive mode.

“That was wise of them.”

“It’s too bad most girls didn’t get lucky like me,” she sighed.

“Very true.”

“Anyway, I must go. My shift is about to begin.”

“See you later then, Jaesun.”

“Same to you, Hoya.” And there she was calling him informally now. So much for keeping her distance. It felt as if she were digging herself into a hole that she couldn’t get out of.

***

For a person who had been completely absent from the conspiracy’s goings on for the longest time, Hoya seemed to pop up very frequently now that he had made his initial entrance. Half the time when Jaesun reported to Sungyeol, he was also present, sitting off to the side, listening and watching.

After a while she learned to ignore him, or at least she grew used to him being there, but she couldn’t help but think that he was taking some sort of special interest in her, and not for the same reasons she had for taking interest in him.

For all she knew, it was just her own paranoia and obsession. If she could call it an obsession. Was that what it was? She didn’t spend every moment thinking about him, that was for sure. Not even close. But the fact that she had to remind herself that her passion was the conspiracy and that her focus was her spy work was an indication that she was distracted. Jaesun hated that the one thing to cause her to waver had to be something like her own selfish feelings.

She even confided in Dongwoo about it. But all he did was laugh at her.

“You’re eighteen. It’s only natural that you will have feelings for someone.”

“I feel like they’re irrelevant to my life right now though.”

He shoved her playfully. “Don’t be silly. It’s good that you’re falling in love. I was worried that this whole conspiracy would turn you into a heartless person bent on revenge. Now Hoya is here to keep you human.”

She glared. “You say that as if we’re a couple.”

“I think he’s interested in you,” Dongwoo said, shrugging. “Don’t you think so as well?”

“I…”

“If you like each other, it’s all good. You’re both in the conspiracy together. If anything, shouldn’t getting together with him strengthen your ties to the cause?”

She didn’t want to argue with his logic, so she left the conversation there and moved onto other things.