Ji Hyo tied her hair into a low bun and fixed her clothes. As she applied the minimal lipstick with the brush in her hand, she stops and looks at herself in the mirror.

*Flashback*

“Do you trust me?” Jong Kook lowly grunt as Ji Hyo stood behind him. His held the sword in one hand and protects her with the other. He slightly turns to her.

“Do you trust me?” he repeated, more sternly now. Ji Hyo looks into his eyes intently before nodding. Then he turn back and fought the enemies who came in the way, trying to hurt them.

Then he turns and pulls Ji Hyo, making an escape. They ran fast, Ji Hyo never thought she could run this fast either but when she felt like tripping, Jong Kook pulled on tightly, looking back to make sure she kept up as he sees many soldiers running after them.

Running through the woods was quite a struggle, especially when Ji Hyo was wearing a hanbok. Suddenly, they got out of the woods and came to a cliff, just stopping right before they fell. He turns back around as Ji Hyo gasp at the height. The river storms and flows downhill.

Seeing the soldiers closing in on them, Jong Kook turns to Ji Hyo hastily.

“You trust me, right?”

Ji Hyo looks at him, realizing why he’s asking and looked back to the woods and river then back to him.

“Then trust me to the very end, ok?” Before Ji Hyo could comprehend, he grabs her hand, throws the sword down into the river before jumping into the river as the soldiers arrive there.

Splash!

Their body hit the water as their hands still stayed intact. Ji Hyo struggled to see underwater as the river was too deep. Their bodies pushed along the river as the strong current pushes them. She tried to swim up but she couldn’t. Her chest tightens up, bubbles out her nose and mouth as she struggled to breathe. Her vision blurred as she felt hopeless.

As she felt her body giving up, she closed her eyes as everything was turning black. Then she felt a burst of air, allowing her to breathe again. She opened her eyes and sees Jong Kook in front of her. So close, too close. She then opens her eyes widely and realized that he had kissed her, practically giving her air.

*Flashback to present*

Ji Hyo puts the lip brush down and touched her lips. Their first kiss…

*Flashback*

Ji Hyo sees Jong Kook kissing Ara through the edges of the door as she peeks inside. The kiss he gave Ara was different. Those lips that touched hers to save her life compared to the lips that touches his lover with love tenderness.

*Flashback to present*

Ji Hyo touched her lips as her face darkens. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand while looking in the mirror.

He doesn’t love me.

Ji Hyo wiped her lips again, more slowly this time.

He only loves her.

She wiped it again.

Kim Jong Kook doesn’t love me.

Ji Hyo grabs the mirror and slams it down on the table. She was sad but now she was angry. She got up and holds her skirt in a fist, crunching the skirt into wrinkles. Her body shaking as his words hit her over and over again.

“I initially did not want to marry you but my mother threaten to harm my wife thus leaving me with no choice. So, I married you.”

 “Go Ara, a woman I saved from a battle I fought.” His eyes glimmer with relief, happiness.

“One day, you will find that someone.”

Ji Hyo close her eyes, taking a deep breath. The room felt so suffocating, this life, this marriage.

***

Jong Kook pours the tea into a cup then offering it to another. The man sitting across him lightly bows.

“How is the protection at the border going?” Jong Kook asked.

The man from earlier takes the drink but set it aside. “The enemy has been put off for now. We are stabilizing the troops and aiding the burnt villages.”

Jong Kook nods, “Good job. I’m apologize for not being there to help.”

The man chuckles. “Yeah right, you were so busy preparing for your wedding.” He leans forward. “Tell me, is she really a beauty?”

Jong Kook says nothing, only a thin smile.

“We were talking about a serious confidential topic.”

“And I’m speaking as your cousin now, not as your lieutenant.”

Jong Kook only stares at him as the man raised his brows, waiting for Jong Kook to speak up. Jong Kook looks away and pours another cup of tea.

“She’s… a beauty.”

The man stops and stares at Jong Kook. “But…?”

Jong Kook looks back at him. “But my wife is prettier,” blowing the cup to cool it down before taking a sip.

The man sits straight up again. “As expected, I knew you would say that.” He takes the cup and took a drink.

“I heard you have some new servants.”

Jong Kook looks up at him. “And your point is?”

The man smiles, “Is there anyone that goes by the name of Song Ji Hyo?”

Jong Kook stops what he was doing and looks at his cousin. When did Ji Hyo and his cousin meet?

“Jong Kook Hyung,” Jong Kook looks back at the man.

“What?”

“I asked you.” He examine Jong Kook’s expression, before changing his expression back into a calm one.

“I see,” the man thought to himself, feeling betrayed. The female thief must have lied to him, I will definitely throw you in jail if I find you again. He looked away, amused.

Jong Kook stayed speechless. Rethinking about earlier…

*Flashback*

Jong Kook was on his way to the library when he saw the back door open. Yeo Jin, Ji Hyo’s personal maid crept inside, wearing man’s clothing. Suspiciously, he follows her and as she was about to creep back to the back door, he calls out her name.

“Yeo Jin.” Yeo Jin froze immediately and turns around to see Jong Kook there.

“S-Sir Kim.” She nervously bowed.

Jong Kook looks at her, a bit confused but his expressions stayed cold. “What are you doing?”

“Umm… I um, the thing is…” She didn’t dare to look up at him. He hears a commotion behind the doors. Jong Kook made his way to the door and opens it.

To his dismay, there was no one there. He turns back to Yeo Jin and glares at her before moments later, the door open again. There he sees Ji Hyo comes in, also dressed in men’s clothing. Just that, she looked like a mess with her hair allover her face.

*Flashback to present*

Just as the man turns away, he sees a familiar face walking across the buildings, leaving him with only a glimpse of her face.

Jong Kook was about to speak, “Go-“

“Hold on Hyung,” he puts his hand up to motion a halt, stretched his neck all the way to make sure he didn’t see wrong.

Jong Kook tries to figure out what he was looking at that he has to motion for Jong Kook to stop speaking.

“What’re you looking at?” Jong Kook asked.

“I’ll be back, excuse me,” and the man hurriedly gets up.

***

Ji Hyo was on her way to her mother-in-law’s quarter as she felt someone pulling her back. With little knowledge and the immediate pull, Ji Hyo turned back to see who it was. To her demise, it was the man from earlier.

He stares at her intently, especially her clothes. She changed from men’s clothing to a hanbok rather than a servant’s dressed. He chuckles to himself and scowls. She must be a scammer, an expert thief. Regretting that he let her go earlier, he now pulls his grip on her wrist.

“W-What are you doing here?” Ji Hyo asked in a haze.

“I should be the one asking you.” He glares at her irritably. “You lied about your whole identity to me when I gave you the chance to explain yourself to me.” He pulls her arm and started leading to the front gate.

“I’m taking you to the police right now.”

Ji Hyo immediately pulled back as she grabbed onto her skirt.

“Let go of me. You’ve misunderstood, Sir.”

He turns back to her, his brow raised. “Misunderstand? Sir?” He looks away at the sky before turning back to her, perfectly annoyed. “Wow, you’re really asking for some flogging.”

Ji Hyo was in utter confusion. This- this idiot. He must really be slow. She looks at his clothes again. He’s dressed in a scholar’s clothing but why does he seem so… dumb? But if he’s that dumb, how did he get in here? He must hold a high status too, right?

Ji Hyo kept looking at him from head to toe then sighing.

“What?” He notices it and moves one hand to fix his hat.

“Who exactly are you?” Ji Hyo asked, well as politely as she could.

He was ready to speak-

“Gong Yoo!” Jong Kook called from behind.

******************************************************************