The courtyard of the mansion was almost silent as the crowd waited with baited breath, excitement almost tangible in the air. Only the crackling fires in the braziers around the floor and the chirping of crickets were heard as the guests waited for the appearance of Myeong Soobin. 

The first note of the gayageum pierced the air and a figure glided gracefully out of the crowd, part of her face faintly obscured by a translucent piece of cloth. Her movements entranced the crowd as she seemed to be able to transition from graceful to powerful with ease, capturing the emotions and essence of the music. Her fans fluttered in practiced movement one moment, then sliced through the air like a knife in the next. As the last notes hit the air she posed, her fans concealing her porcelain face from the onlookers as they applauded. She truly was the best dancer in all of Joseon.

Soobin stood, closing her fans as she bowed to the lord of the house. An almost imperceptible smirk made its way across his handsome yet slightly aged features as he took in her slender body. He had been the one to request her presence at his estate and alluded to something perhaps more private.Soobin blushed as their eyes met, turning away from him and faded into the crowd, a faint smile gracing her lips. Men seemed to be bound to their base pleasures.

It was always hard to get a performance from Myeong Soobin as so many prominent households vied for her to perform at their estate. It seemed she chose on a whim, however this didn’t stop them from presenting extravagant gifts to try to persuade her to come to them. Lord Ryu had given many gifts in hopes that Soobin would come and it seemed that he had succeeded and would be able to claim her for the evening. He excused himself from the festivities and made his way back to his chamber. 

Soobin was waiting for him, sitting on his bed facing away from him as if teasing him. “Oh, Lord Ryu… You startled me.” 

Her voice was light and breathy and she looked at him out from under long eyelashes, enticing him closer. Her face was still hidden from view by the piece of silk; she had never been seen without it. “May I?” 

He reached out to touch her face, fingers reaching for the cloth over her nose and mouth. Soobin tensed and jerked back slightly. “Nobody has seen my face in a long time….”

“Then let me be the first.” He reached for the cloth again and this time she didn’t back away. The silk fluttered down into her lap, revealing her beautiful face. She had pale skin and perfectly painted red lips, which now curved into a smile. “You’re beautiful… I don’t understand why you keep your face hidden.”

“Mystery makes everything just a bit more enticing don't you think?” she said with an airy laugh. 

“Yes, I have to agree with that. You’ve been teasing me far too long by not accepting my invitation but now that I have you here, you must come back for the next gathering.”

A mischievous glint appeared in her eye as she spoke. “ We’ll have to see about that one. Maybe you can persuade me to come back?” She blinked her eyes innocently, tilting her head down slightly to hide the pink tint to her cheeks.

Lord Ryu cupped her cheek in his hand. “I will do my best to persuade you, my dear.” His soothing voice echoed throughout the room.

He pulled her close and crashed his lips onto hers, seeking entrance to . She gave in to him and melted against his body, tangling her fingers in his hair. Using his body weight against her, he pushed her down on the bed and began to nip down her neck to the tantalizing bit of skin peeking out of her clothing. Upon reaching that spot, he bit down and she arched under him with a whimper. 

Ryu looked up with a smirk. “Do you like that my dear?”

Soobin met his eyes with a frown on her face. “That’s going to leave a mark.”

“Of course. You’re mine now Myeong Soobin”

She scoffed. “I’m not anyone’s Lord Ryu. I merely graced you with my presence.”

His face grew dark as her grabbed her arms and pinned them down with one hand. “Is that so, girl? Well I’ll just have to make you mine then.”

She struggled against him but wasn’t strong enough to throw him off of her. “Get off of me, you pig!”

He began to pull off her clothes as she continued to try to throw him off of her. She let out a growl and kicked him in the side, hard. A sharp pain in his leg made him look down, long enough to register blood and for his grip to weaken. A blade jutting out of the top of her slipper glinted dangerously in the candlelight, red dripping down the silver. 

Soobin took the advantage of his momentary distraction to knock him off of her and rolled off the bed to stand. Ryu’s shock was clear on his face as he growled, “You !”

Her lips curled into a small smirk. “For your crimes against Joseon and her people, you will die.”

Panic flitted onto his face as he began to yell for his guards. “Guar-“

Soobin lashed out, leg sweeping in a graceful arc, and silt his throat, blood spraying as his body thudding to the floor and effectively cutting off the rest of his word.

However, she hadn’t been fast enough to silence him. 

“Lord Ryu?!” Feet pounded on the floor, coming up the hallway towards the main chamber and she could hear the sound of blades being drawn. 

“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath, looking at the droplets of blood on her clothes. “Not fast enough…” She grabbed the cloth lying discarded on the floor and sheathed her footblade, just making it onto the balcony and off into the party guests as the first of the guards came charging in. 

“Lord Ryu! He’s dead!” 

The alarm had been raised because she wasn’t fast enough to end his life. The blood spattered on her clothing would be a giveaway to her crime, but here, on the grounds of the mansion, wandering about in her undergarments would be even worse. She would have to get out without drawing too much attention to herself. Without the cloth on her face and sticking to the edge of the crowd where it was not very well illuminated, there was only a small chance of being noticed just because of the blood. Keeping her head down, she pushed gently through the crowd towards the main gate as the uproar began. 

“Who killed Lord Ryu?”

“I can’t believe someone was murdered while we were here!”

Guests clamored, talking among themselves while Soobin reached the gate.

“Where do you think you're going Miss?”

A man grabbed her arm just as she was about to slip out to freedom. He was one of the household guards, judging by the way he was dressed and the sword hanging at his waist. 

“I’ve been summoned home sir, my mother is ill and she wishes for me to be back now.”

“Too bad, all of the guests are required to remain until we find the murderer.”

‘Ugh,’ she thought to herself. ‘I guess this is gonna be a little bit messy.’

She elbowed the guard hard in the stomach, forcing him to let go of her and dropped a knife from her sleeve, catching it and slitting his throat, causing the guard to drop like a stone. However one of the other guards turned just in time to see his friend crumple. “Hey you! Stop!”

. Soobin threw down a firecracker that began shooting sparks and sprinted out the main gate, blinding her pursuers briefly. She would have about 30 seconds before they regained their senses. 

She ran down the main street with the Ryu guards hot on her heels. It seemed she wouldn’t be able to get out without shedding more blood than she already had. It wasn’t the best outcome but it was better than dying due to some idiot guards out for glory. She led them down the side streets of the city, twisting and turning every which way until she got to a dead end. Perfect. 

She stopped dead a few feet before the wall and waited while her pursuers caught up. “You’re trapped now. Come quietly with us or -“

“You’ll kill me where I stand?” she asked, as if she didn't have a care in the world. “I’m sorry, but either you walk away or you die.”

The leader scoffed. “As if you could beat all of us, girl.”

Well, at least she could say she tried to get out without spilling blood. Oh well. 

The first man charged her and she easily sidestepped him, allowing him to crash into the wall behind her. Her arm swung out catching him in the side of the neck, blade gleaming in the moonlight as she began her dance of death. He dropped in a spray of blood as the others encircled her, wary of what she could do. 

Two charged in from opposite directions, one low and one high. Almost as if she had no care in the world, she waited until they were almost on her before leaping up and arching back, kicking out her blade and striking with her knife. They too dropped to the ground, one slit from the belly up and the other with his throat open. 

The others were stunned just long enough for her to land on her feet and throw down her only smoke bomb. It went off, thick smoke everywhere, blinding the guards. Sprinting past them as they coughed, she sliced through the leg of the guard who had been threatening her just for good measure and took to the rooftops as quickly as she could. 

Luckily, her pursuers hadn’t recognized her as Myeong Soobin so she wouldn’t have to kill anyone else. They were all incapacitated long enough that they couldn’t give chase either, so the path back home was clear. 

She ran across the rooftops with only the faint sound of her feet hitting the roof tiles accompanying her. Off in the distance, there were shouts but she paid them no heed. They wouldn’t be able to find her in time.

~~~~~

Shutting the door to her room, Soobin flopped down on her bed, feet aching after the long run. She was in the process of pulling off her shoes as the door reopened, showing the face of her apprentice. “Welcome back, Mistress. Judging by the amount of blood on your clothes, I’m guessing it’s that time of the month again?” 

A eating grin was plastered across his face as he leaned against the doorframe of her room. She rolled her eyes at him. “Hongbin, you know very well it is not that time of month, idiot. I got into a slight scrape but of course, I am unharmed.”

She moved across the room as he closed the door and sat down one of her chairs. She sat at the table and began to wipe off the makeup on her face, slowly revealing tanned skin. “I wish my skin was lighter…It makes getting ready so difficult.”

“It doesn’t matter because you still look like a girl.”

“Yah!” Soobin whipped around, tossing one of her makeup brushes at Hongbin’s face, smacking him right on the nose. 

“Dammit Hakyeon, why’d you have to have such good aim?”

Underneath all that expertly applied makeup, Myeong Soobin was none other than the assassin Cha Hakyeon.

~~~~~~

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! Please upvote and comment to let me know! I really like feedback so I can improve. Thank you!