Raina smiled in satisfaction as she walked through the bustling crowd. She had successfully sneaked an apple, a couple of peaches and some other stuff as well from unsuspecting merchants. Munching on a ripe, juicy peach she hummed. Technically it wasn't stealing because she always payed her victims back, whether it be by money or labour or free medical aid. This justification clearing any guiltiness from her mind, she happily wandered about when she came upon on something that made her stop in her tracks.

A young handsome man was resting away from the sun and was reading a book. It wasn't his looks that caught her attention, (although she would be lying if she said that he wasn't handsome) but rather it was the book, well its penman that is.

 'The Lustful Student.'

What was a elite looking young man doing, reading an illegal and banned book in public?, she mused. Shaking her head she left failing to notice the man falling asleep as he held the book.

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Sam Maekjeong let a chuckle escape his lips at the words written in the book he had obtained from a shady bookshop. "As expected of the Lustful Student" he said with a wry grin. The book that mocked the Bone-rank system established in Silla as well as the people who implemented and followed it and most of all, that scorned the Queen, his mother, and her greed for power was the only light in his life. The only thing that made him believe that he could do this and feel at ease knowing that at least that there was one person who supported him and believed in him enough to announce it to the world, regardless of the consequences. 

The Lustful Student's audacity and boldness was refreshing to him, who had always been oppressed and dominated his entire life. He wondered who she was ( he knew the writer was a woman from her calligraphy and even thought she had tried to hide it, he could tell that it was written by a woman)  Staring at the words "...the king who will lead Silla into a bright and prosperous future..." his eyelids began to feel heavy and before he knew it, he fell into a peaceful, deep sleep, the first in many years. Hugging the book to his chest he unconsciously smiled only to be woken up by his bodyguard, Paoh.  

After denying the fact that he was sleeping, his fingers traced the author's name on the cover. Heart hopeful at the fact that he might meet The Lustful Student, he decided to head towards Okta.

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Raina was dressed to be unrecognized.  Adorned in a fashionable men's robe that was slightly feminine, she sneaked inside Okta by scaling the wall of the backyard. Landing softly on her feet, she entered the premises and headed for her reserved table at the far corner, hidden from view but the best place for observation. All was going according to her plan of sneaking in, drinking a couple of drinks and leaving without getting caught except for the fact that someone saw her scale the wall and that was none other than Moo Myung.

Moo Myung wandered around the brightly decorated place filled with people of both genders, dressed in beautiful clothes. He felt out of the place, attired in his old and borrowed clothes. Turning around he headed towards the exit when he came across a young woman by the looks of it, even though she was dressed in men's clothes, it wasn't that hard to tell from her figure or her hair that she was female, scaling the wall that separated the lively place from the outside. He shrugged it off thinking that people from the city were weird and continued to walk when he stopped in his tracks. That girl... she had been wearing a necklace. A necklace exactly like his. 

As this realization hit him, he rushed back and attempted to enter through the main entrance but was obstructed. Realizing that her couldn't enter that way, he pondered on what to do till his eyes fell on something. Bingo

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Raina was sipping her last drink for the day when it happened. A poorly dressed man bumped into one of Banryu's entourage. The whole place went silent waiting for what happens next. And the audience wasn't let down. The girls gasped as the obviously irritated man beat the outsider. Getting up from her seat, Raina descended down the stairs slowly, the alcohol making her feel slightly light-headed but thankfully she wasn't drunk. 

As the armed man went to bring his drawn sword on the peasant lying on the floor, he was stopped by a hand gripping the sword. A collective gasp rose throughout the place as everyone took in the unusual sight. A young, pretty woman with her face shielded by a black mask, dressed in men's robes held the sword, uncaring of the blood that dripped down her hand and onto the floor. "What are you doing? Let go!" shouted the owner of the sword, attempting to release his weapon from her grasp. Unfortunately for him she complied by ripping his sword from his hands on tossing it on the floor.

Raina gestured with her hands in a 'come hither' motion and when Kang Sung rushed at her she just side stepped in one swift motion. He again ran at her and this time she tripped him. Ignoring the impressed whistles, courtesy of the resident playboy, Suho, she turned her back on him and walked towards the wounded man who was resting against the wall. "Are you alright?" 

He weakly nodded. "You're bleeding" he pointed out. "It's nothing." she said hiding her hand. "I'm glad you are alright." 

Just then someone else crouched next to her and put the injured man's arm around his shoulders. He was the guy who had taken down Kang Sung in a matter of seconds, after Kang Sung had crossed over the line that he had drawn. "I can take it from here" he said, nodding his head at her in thanks. She watched as he helped his friend out before leaving, amazingly undetected or so she thought.

Entering one of the private rooms, she sat down on the table and started to clean her wound with some medicine from the medicine box stored for the VIPs. Her hand reached for the bandage when she stilled as she heard the door open and felt the sudden breeze that took out all the candles except for the one near her. 

"Who are you?"

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So? How was it? Hope you like it. I have planned till ep 6 so enjoy. Updates might be slow though. Sorry.

The pen-name 'The Lustful Student'. Credits go to Scholar Who Walks The Night. The pen name is not mine

Andrianna2016