There was a long pause after Jiyong's desperate plea. It was as if time had stopped. The only sound that was left was the echo of Jiyong's voice against the cave walls.

Slowly Chaerin turned her head in recognition. When her eyes finally settled on the owner of the voice slowly tears welled up in her eyes. Her face softened into one of shock but happiness.

"Jiyong." she whispered

As he heard her voice, Jiyong held his breath. It was unbelievable to him. There she was right in front of him.

In a flash Chaerin ran over to him and wrapped herself in his arms, not caring to cover herself and abandoning the spring behind her.

"Yo- You.. You came back " Chaerin tried to utter in between her sobs.

Jiyong slowly removed his night shirt, leaving him bare chested and in his trousers. He then used it to cover Chaerin while simultaneously wrapping her in his embrace.

"Yes I did." he finally managed to say, " I'm sorry for the long wait Chaerin. I'm sorry for making you cry. I'm sorry for being a coward" he tried to apologize for everything that had been eating him up in side in one long breath and rapid sentence.

"Jiyong. Oppa. Calm down." Chaerin said while letting out a light chuckle. She slowly unwrapped herself from his arms and properly covered herself with his night shirt.

"Come." she uttered again. Now, she gently reached for his hand and pulled him to sit with her in a corner of the cave.

"Oppa it's okay.". she said again while smiling. Jiyong couldn't help noticing how cute she looked when she was genuinely happy. How her eyes curled up into two little crescent moons , how her cheeks got rounder as her smile grew larger.

"Jiyong it's okay. Now we're together. Now that you're here we can go anywhere we want. We can live somewhere else. Somehwere we'll both be happy."

Jiyong looked down guiltily. He tried to hide his slowly fading smile from her by shifting his head back and avoiding her gaze, but he knew she was smarter than that.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Chaerin..", he began "I can't." He blinked back tears once he had said those words.

"We can't. I shouldn't have even come.  It was a mistake." Jiyong watched as her face changed into one of grief and hurt.

"Oppa.. what do you mean we can't? You promised" she said in a broken voice.

"Chaerin I-"

"I've been waiting for two years Jiyong! What exactly do you think I was doing? I had to wake up everyday away from you. Knowing that you may forget about me, that you could have met someone else, or that you could have died in battle. Then there was just the daily hell of living. Beating after beating I tried to console myself with the fact that once you came back I'd be free. We'd be free to be happy. But now?!" she stopped to catch her breath and attempted to stop her sobs

"Now you tell me it was nothing more than a mistake?" she finished. Now her gentle eyes were wide with hurt and betrayal, red from trying to rub away the tears. Her eyebrows were knit  in confusion and her hands were shaking as she clung onto Jiyong desperately.

He should have stopped right there. He should have been content enough with this one visit but instead he let go. He let go of every objection holding him back.

In a burst of movement spurred by the passion in his heart Jiyong lunged towards Chaerin and gripped her face. He kissed her passionately while fumbling to remove his night shirt from her body. Chaerin was overwhelmed by the sudden attack, but quickly succumbed to her desire and returned Jiyong's passion.

The two lovers continued through the night, content with each other as they made love under the covering of the cave.

Hours later it was near the brink of a new day. Chaerin and Jiyong still remained in the cave. Chaerin had her back to Jiyong as both his hands held her body against him . The two lay on the cave floor covered by their night attire.

"Chaerin." Jiyong called sleepily.

A muffled  sound of confirmation answered Jiyong.

"We're going to leave. Three days from now, we'll meet here again. In that time I'll try to get my men to provide me transportation. I'll send for a horse or a carriage. Anything that can go far away. And on the third night I'll come for you and we'll ride far away from here." Jiyong said with a hazy expression over his eyes. He had completely relinquished whatever mental ties he had to his life as a soldier. He wanted to be free . He wanted to be with her.

At this point Chaerin slowly sat up and looked deeply at Jiyong.

"Really?"

"Do you mean it oppa?" she said her eyes widening at the prospect.

"It's a promise, Chaerin."

The next morning Chaerin and Jiyong made sure to sneak out early from the cave. Jiyong immediately wrote a letter to be sent back to his commanders. He tried to make it as formal as possible so they would suspect nothing. The letter read:

"Date: 10/9/1451

Location: Yongin Village

This is Soldier Kwon Jiyong, requesting a form of transportation for a personal mission in the country side. It is urgent please send aid within the next three days."

In addition, Jiyong tried to remain as far away from Chaerin as possible during the course of those three days. He didn't need any suspicion arousing or any of his soldiers getting fixated on her. He wanted nobody to suspect they were planning anything or that they had feelings for each other. Madame Dong at times taunted him with her knowledge of the relationship. But, he tried to act in a way that suggested he was bored with Chaerin. He even directly made sure she understood this

"Ah, if it isn't my guest from the past." Madame Dong had said to Jiyong one evening. Her yellow rotting teeth accurately reflected the character within.

"Are you here for your men? Or for a certain woman?" She asked slyly "Don't think I forgot about you and my servant girl. You should have seen the way she waited with those hopeless little eyes." Jiyong curled his fists in anger, but remembered how near his happiness was.

"Ah that. You understand how it is with men of the army. Sometimes we just need a woman to pass the time. I guess it was my fault for leading her on too much right?" Jiyong forced himself to say the words in a nonchalant tone in order to convince her.

"In fact it's been a bit boring here with all the men. Don't you have any other servant girls that could help entertain us?"

"Of course! But they come at a price. We can discuss that later though."

And just like that Madame Dong's focus went from their relationship to a business opportunity. So  by the third day Jiyong was feeling confident about their plan.

On the morning of the third day Jiyong was feeling confident giddy even at how easy it had all seemed. The only step left for him was to receive his transportation that he had sent for. And his men had informed him earlier that they had seen other troops riding on horses in the distance.

It would all go according to plan Jiyong thought.

A few moments later Jiyong heard a commotion at the front of the inn. He slowly walked towards the sound of Madame Dong's over-excited voice. He let out a small smile seeing a few foot soldiers caring for a sturdy stallion perfect for travel.

"Kwon! Stop hiding in the back there. Is that how you greet your commander?" a voice boomed from behind the horse

Jiyong's smile dropped as he took heavy steps forward. When he finally reached the group he came face to face with Commander Kang.

"Si.. Sir." Jiyong struggled to get out

"Well don't look so glum Kwon. When your letter was received by the men back home, I thought I recognized the name of the village. And I remembered your little visit here last time. I decided to come visit and see if you were holding up our end of the little deal we made. Madame Dong assured me you weren't doing anything stupid but I wanted to make sure for myself."

Jiyong swallowed back a lump of fear in his throat and attempted to look unbothered. He was praying his commander had forgotten exactly what Chaerin looked like. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her working diligently watering plants near the front of the inn. He let out a small sigh of relief, naively believing that this wouldn't be enough to ruin his plans.

"Now. I intend to stay for the night, so lets have some fun." Commander Kang finished before walking into the inn and making himself right at home.

That night Jiyong was now furious. He couldn't contain how anxious yet petrified he was. He couldn't think around the idea of how he would leave without his commander watching him. He needed to see Chaerin. To warn her, of how their plans had now been made more difficult. Jiyong searched the inn for her and finally found her alone in a small room used for laundry. He quickly looked over his shoulders before shutting the door, leaving him and her inside.

"Chaerin. We need to talk." He began.

Chaerin looked up from her work and smiled brightly at Jiyong.

"Oppa I can't believe how close we are. Just a few more hours. And we can leave this place." Chaerin stated excitedly.

"Chaerin no. We have to be careful." Jiyong urged in a more stern voice.

"Why?" she asked in genuine confusion.

Jiyong sighed and quickly relayed his commander's earlier threat

"I know . I should have told you sooner, but I just wanted to focus on the positive. But I'm telling you now that we need to be careful. It may even be better just to leave now. When he is distracted and not watching me."

"Okay" Chaerin nodded slowly trying to take in this new information.

"Good. Now I'll go-"

Jiyong's sentence was interrupted by a loud bang against the door. Someone had kicked it open. Jiyong turned around only to meet the face of Commander Kang.

"What do we have here? You're leaving Kwon? " Commander Kang's voice became dark and intimidating.

Jiyong instinctively stood up and held out his arms to protect Chaerin.

"You think the military is that easy to leave!? You think you can abandon your post, your rank, your country!" He shouted "And for what!? This little ? Madame Dong told me all about your little relationship and how she suspected it was still going on. If you think it's that easy to leave Kwon then you are mistaken!" In one swift move Commander Kang reached behind Jiyong and grabbed Chaerin by her hair.

He dragged her out of the room and continued walking until they were outside the inn.

"This ends here!" He said while in the same movement issuing one swift quick to Chaerin's face.

Jiyong followed behind not quick enough to match Commander Kang's pace, and he watched in horror. Once he reached them Jiyong charged Commander Kang with all his strength.

"Get off of her!" he screamed in rage. His chest pounded at the amount of anger that had taken over. His eyes were blinded by a bloodlust as he continued to punch Commander Kang after forcing him to the ground.

Commander Kang shoved Jiyong off with one powerful push and reached into his coat pocket. He drew out one slender but lethally sharp dagger and charged Jiyong with his intent clear in his actions. Jiyong lay on the ground looking up as Commander Kang neared. He allowed his eyes to roll back in his head as he silently resigned to his fate.

Before Commander Kang could reach Jiyong he hindered by a stone that had been hurled at his temple. He stopped to clutch his head in pain. Jiyong realizing this awoke from his tranquil position and reached for the dagger. In one powerful arching movement from his arm supported by the strength his whole body Jiyong used the dagger to slash his commander's throat.

"Get up!" Jiyong called as he ran towards Chaerin and helped her from the ground. A trail of blood was falling from the spot on her head where she had been kicked but she still looked well enough to run.

"Jiyong look." Chaerin said.

He turned around to see his men as well as other servants up watching him near the inn. He saw the gaze of his men turn murderous as they saw their dead commander.

"Run."