Word count: 6,273 words

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“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I promise. My name is Jin.”

For all you knew, you could be getting out of the frying pan and into the fire. This man was just as much a stranger as those thugs were, and just telling you his name didn’t change anything. However, the fact that he saved you from a horrible fate was undeniable, so you decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and slipped your hand into his, allowing him to help you get on your feet.

Once he was convinced that you were not going to collapse he released your hand, thinking that you couldn’t be comfortable with holding an unknown man’s hand after what had just happened, but strangely you felt disappointed. You wished he had kept holding onto you but you didn’t say anything, simply following him into the main street. The setting sun was behind him so you still couldn’t see his face properly, but as far as you could tell he didn’t seem like a monster so you pushed your worries down your throat.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” His tone was soft, his voice gentle and melodic as he tried to look you over with his eyes for any injury but you suspected he was having trouble seeing you clearly as well. He huffed and shook his head, then cocked it to signal for you to follow him. “Come with me.”

Without waiting for a response, he proceeded to walk towards the direction you came from before, turning his head to make sure that you were following him. It took a few seconds for you to digest his command and move your feet, but you took quick steps to catch up with his large strides.

“Where are we going?”

“Back to my house. We should get you looked at.”

It was probably best that he couldn’t see the surprised face that you made at his suggestion. No self-respecting, unmarried lady would go to a strange man’s house alone!

Even though he couldn’t see you well, he could sense your hesitation and was quick to lay your thoughts to rest. “My mother can see if you’re hurt anywhere and tend to you if there is anything.” You could see his smile, it was beautiful, and you hoped that he could see yours too, since he saw you nod at his statement.

He led you back towards the better part of the town, past the courtyard and the market, where the shopkeepers were closing up, chattering among themselves jovially, happy to be done for the day and to go home and eat dinner.

Jin’s house was close to the marketplace. It was a far cry from the mansions near the castle, but it was more than big enough to house a family of three; himself and his parents, something that he told you while you were walking. You, on the other hand, had not offered any information about yourself, worried about giving away your real identity.

Instead of unlocking the door himself like a resident of the house, Jin raised the iron door knocker to bang on the oak door instead. You looked at him curiously but he just flashed a smile at you in return, and you heard faint footsteps on the other side before the door opened to a beautiful, dignified older woman who you assumed was Jin’s mother.

“Just to show you that my mother’s here,” Jin answered your earlier silent question and you couldn’t help your heart from swelling at his thoughtfulness.

“Jin! Where have you been? I thought you weren’t coming back for dinner,” the woman scolded his son, her annoyance ruined by her affectionate tone. Then her eyes fell onto you. “Oh, who do we have here, a guest? You should have given me a warning, you naughty boy, I’m a mess right now.”

“Ah, ma, I couldn’t give you warning even if I wanted to.”

“Excuses!”

You couldn’t help laughing at their banter that reminded you of your relationship with your brothers. It brought their attention back to your presence and Jin’s mother didn’t waste any time ushering you in. “Come in, dear, what would people think if they see me keeping my guests standing outside my house like this.”

The growing darkness signalling the day giving in to night should have served as a warning that you needed to be heading back, but a part of you wanted to remain in the company of your saviour a while longer. You were still shocked by the events that transpired earlier but his presence soothed you, especially now that his mother was there. So you followed her through the doorway and into the house.

Jin entered after you did, closing the door behind him. His mother led you through a hallway into the living room. It was fair in size, not very big but not small either, with modest furnishings, and it seemed very homely. She sat on one of the sofa and motioned for you to sit beside her, leaving Jin to take a chair opposite you.

At the inquiring look she shot at her son, he started to explain the situation. “That boy Ki Joon got into trouble with that gang again, and she got caught in the middle of it. Can you take a look at her? I’m afraid she might have been hurt.”

His mother tsk-tsked at the explanation, while you were quick to assure them that you were fine. “No, please don’t worry about me. I’m not hurt at all, thanks to Jin coming to my rescue,” you said, frantically waving your hands as if to prove your point. It’s true, other than a couple of small scratches from when you fell down on the ground as Jin’s fist made contact with your attacker’s jaw, the ordeal did not injure you. However, you forgot the nasty cut you acquired pushing through the bushes to get to the hole in the castle wall earlier, and Jin’s mother let out a small gasp at the sight.

“That doesn’t look alright to me! Ooooh, if I ever get my hands on those louts they would be sorry they were even born,” she said so passionately you couldn’t bring yourself to tell them it was your own doing. Besides, what could you have said, you injured yourself digging through the castle wall? So you kept your mouth shut and watched her get up and walk into another room, mumbling about useless men and barbaric thugs.

Then you felt a pair of eyes watching you and you turned to see Jin flashing you his charming smile again. It was only then that he truly struck you with his beauty. Under the ample light, his handsome features were impossible to miss; plump, pink lips, deep brown eyes, straight nose, broad shoulders, and you suspected that his shirt hid an impressive set of muscles – you could just tell that he was an athletic person. Such a good-looking man wouldn’t need to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do; you were sure that with just a flash of those pearly white teeth women would be lining up begging to cater to his every whim.

The thought that someone as dashing as this young man was witness to something so humiliating made you cringe inwardly and lower your eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the blush colouring your cheeks. True, you weren’t dressed like a princess right now, but your clothes, even though a little dirty from the day’s adventures, were still those of a respectable lady. Did he think you uncouth for getting in the middle of a fight, or worse, did he think that you were stupid to get yourself involved? From the way he was grinning at you, it must have been the latter, but either way, it couldn’t have been good.

You stared intently at the simple carpet with brown squares covering the floor of the room, as if it was the most interesting design you have ever seen your whole life, dreading the moment he would open his mouth to say something, or laugh at you, but it didn’t happen. The two of you sat in silence that was awkward for you, but highly amusing for him.

Jin was extremely intrigued by the girl in front of him. Your dress was well-made, but was a tad too big for you. He would have suspected that you stole them but the way you carried yourself, your mannerisms and the way you walked told him that you were gently bred. The precious few words that you had allowed yourself to say to him were soft and polite, yet he had overheard you using a completely different tone when you were attempting to save Ki Joon earlier. You were an enigma to him, and he was definitely interested in getting to know this beautiful, feisty lady more.

Yet he was aware how careful you were being, and he didn’t blame you in the slightest. The way you took in the surroundings as he led you to his house told him that you were not familiar with this part of the city. And if you weren’t familiar with one of the most frequented, the centre of the capital, it was probably safe to say that you may not be from the capital at all. What a girl like you were doing all alone in an unfamiliar city playing rescuer to a man riddled with debts he didn’t know, but he knew that asking you would be futile. So he decided to bid his time, content with just watching you do your best to avoid his gaze with a smile on his face, laughing to himself when you jumped at the sound of his mother returning into the room with a wooden box filled with medicine, a small bowl of water carefully balanced on it.

You let the older woman wash your hand before dabbing yellowish ointment on your open palm, biting the inside of your cheek as you tried not to hiss at the sting. You had a feeling that Jin was having a laugh to himself at your expense and you didn’t want to appear more childish than you already thought you had. Playing around with your brothers growing up, trying to join whatever harebrained scheme Jimin came up with and the smarter ploys Namjoon thought of to sneak and play around, cuts and bruises were nothing new to you, but you have always hated first aid.

As she rolled a white bandage around your palm, she started to ask you the very questions Jin wanted to ask, and that you were desperate to steer clear from. “What’s your name dear?”

Her tone was nothing but kind, yet it threw you into a panic and you blurted out the truth: your own name. Immediately you wanted to kick yourself, but luckily for you the idea that the actual princess was sitting in their living room seemed too far fetched for the mother-son duo.

“It’s a pretty name,” Jin said as his mother gushed, “You have the same name as the princess!”

“Ah, yes… I guess my parents like her name.” Fortunately, you were saved from further questioning when she remembered that her husband would be home soon, jumping up at the reminder that she needed to get the table ready.

“You should join us for dinner,” she invited, but you were anxious to get out, only realising now that you were extremely late and were probably in deep trouble.

“Thank you for the offer, but I really have to go,” you stood up with her, and Jin immediately followed suit.

The thoughts that were undoubtedly running through her mind notwithstanding, she proved to possess the same sensitivity her son had, getting the hint that you were reluctant to share much about yourself. However, she was not about to let a young woman venture out in the darkness on her own.

“Jin, go with her. I’ll have dinner ready for when you get back,” she said, and Jin nodded without protest, but you couldn’t afford to let him come with you, no matter how much you secretly wanted to be in his company even for a second longer. However, there was not much you could say to get you out of the situation so a few minutes later you were out with him in the streets again, the temperature dipping fast as the night settled in.

“Are you okay?” Jin asked, concern painting his face at your involuntary shiver against the cold. You couldn’t help giggling in response, the laughter growing louder at his perplexed expression.

“It’s just that you’ve asked me that quite a few times today,” you explained, and he joined you in laughing at himself, making you like him even more.

“It’s hard not to be concerned about such a pretty, headstrong girl such as yourself,” his remark got your skin flushing vermillion, and you thanked your lucky stars that it was too dark for him to see how flustered he got you with just one simple compliment. However, the bigger mansions were approaching, and you needed to think of an excuse to get away from him fast.

“Um, Jin, I think this far is fine, I can get back on my own from here.”

The light was dim but his frown was impossible to miss. “See, you say and do things like this and you question why I worry about you. I can’t possibly let you walk back by yourself. Actually, I should apologise to your parents for keeping you so late.”

That was definitely not something that you wanted to happen. It was very sweet of him to take responsibility for your tardiness, especially since it was obvious that he thought you were a member of a noble family and he was likely going to get into trouble for it, but it was your rebelliousness that got you into this mess, not his. Most importantly, he couldn’t find out who you really were.

“No, it’s really fine. My house is not far from here. This is a safe neighbourhood,” you had no idea to be honest, but you’d like to think that the better areas near the castle were safe at least. “And… I really don’t want to get you into trouble.”

You didn’t know which part of your speech got through to him, but he softened somewhat, and seemed to consider your words. “I’ll feel better knowing that you arrived safely though.”

“I will be perfectly safe, don’t worry,” you assured him, appealing with your best wide-eyed puppy gaze, even though you weren’t sure if