The old woman reached into her bag and pulled out a small bottle of a yellowish liquid. She poured a small amount of this onto a rag and began to wash her face with it. Jisoo watched Joy and Suyeon for their reactions and was gratified by the smiles and gasps when they saw that old woman was Irene in disguise! "An umbrella!" Joy exclaimed. "I get it now!" Irene returned her smile. I was told to meet you here, but left to my own devices as to the "when" and "how" to make contact - certainly there was no injunction against meeting you early so that I could spend one night with Jisoo and Suyeon before they continue on their way and we continue on ours." "I'm certainly glad to see you," Jisoo said, "and not just because I know that Joy will be safer with you around." Irene stepped over and gave Jisoo a hug and a quick kiss. "You've gotten yourself into quite a predicament, haven't you?" she asked with a rueful shake of her head. "I wish I had been assigned to keep you safe, but I have to trust Madame Park that you'll be safe on your own." She looked over at Suyeon. "With Suyeon's help, of course." Seeing Suyeon smile and blush under even this minimal amount of praise reminded Jisoo that she needed to be more forthcoming with praise for Suyeon. They all had had a long day and needed to get an early start the next day, so after a brief catchup, they all got ready for bed. Looking at the four women and two beds, Irene said "If no one objects, I'd like to share a bed with Suyeon tonight. She looks like she's got something she'd like to tell me in private." Jisoo looked at Suyeon, who was blushing and responded to Jisoo's glance with a nod. "It's fine with me," Jisoo said. "And I doubt Joy would object, would you plaything?" Joy smiled, then lowered her head demurely. "No ma'am," she said. They secured the locks on the door, to which Irene added several arcane-looking items pulled from the depths of her bag, then made their way to bed. When Jisoo turned from the door, she saw that Joy had turned down the covers of their bed and was kneeling at the foot of the bed waiting for her. Jisoo climbed into the bed and gestured for Joy to join her under the covers. "What do you want to do tonight?" Joy whispered, nibbling in Jisoo's ear as she did so. "This will likely be the last night we have for a while." Jisoo wrapped her arm around Joy and pulled Joy closer to her. "I just want to hold you and kiss you," she said. "I want to remember every curve of your body." "That can be arranged," Joy said, pressing herself closer against Jisoo, grabbing Jisoo's hand and placing it on her hip. She leaned in and gently placed a kiss on Jisoo's lips, which Jisoo returned actively. They kept this up for the better part of an hour, exploring and rediscovering each other's bodies, until Jisoo stopped and said "We need to stop now. I need to get some sleep so I'll be alert to travel tomorrow." Pouting, Joy gave Jisoo one last kiss, then rolled Jisoo over and curled up behind her, wrapping her arm around her. "Good night, mistress," she whispered in Jisoo's ear as she drifted off to sleep. Jisoo lay wrapped in Joy's arms, struggling to get to sleep for quite some time after that. She could hear Irene and Suyeon talking on the other bed, but couldn't make out what they were saying, and honestly wasn't trying. Eventually sleep overtook her. At one point during the night she awoke with a start, only to realize that what she had heard was Suyeon crying out in ecstasy. She smiled as she went back to sleep. The morning, Jisoo awoke just before dawn. She got dressed, then woke the others. "Is it time to go already?" Suyeon asked. "I'm afraid so," Jisoo said. "We've got just enough time before the coach is ready to go for a quick breakfast downstairs." "We're not going down with you," Irene said. When Joy made a surprised sound at this, Irene continued. "We won't leave the room until dinner, and then we'll stay here a couple of days before leaving on a regular coach to Seoul." Jisoo looked over and noticed that Irene had brushed her hair and made up her face to look as much like Jisoo as possible. "I see what you're doing," Jisoo said. "Do you think it will work?" "I have every intention of making sure it does," Irene said. "What about Suyeon?" Joy asked. "People will remember me and Jisoo arriving with Suyeon." Irene nodded. "That's why tonight at dinner, I shall complain loudly to anyone who will listen about how my worthless maid sneaked away on the afternoon coach." Suyeon laughed. "You really did think of everything!" Irene shook her head. "Probably not," she said. "I'm sure there will be something I missed, but I hope that I've put us in the best possible position to adapt to whatever that may be." After a final round of farewell kisses and expressions of hopes to see each other again soon, Jisoo and Suyeon picked up their bags and headed down to the dining room, where their coachman was waiting for them. "Ma'am," he said, addressing Jisoo with a bow, "the sky looks like a storm's brewing for this evening. If you wouldn't mind having your breakfast packed for the road, we can get on the road that much sooner and hopefully get you to your destination before the bottom falls out of the sky." Jisoo nodded. "You travel this route so regularly, I'd be a fool not to trust your judgment in this matter." And with that, she sent Suyeon to the kitchen to arrange for their breakfasts, then asked the coachman to put their luggage inside rather than on the rack, since it would only be her and Suyeon in the coach for the remainder of the journey. While she waited for Suyeon and the coachman to manage these matters, she stood by the fireplace and warmed her hands, enjoying the all to rare pleasure of a few moments of quiet to herself. She pondered - not for the first time - what her next assignment would be. She knew that she would not be blamed for Captain Lee's death, as there was absolutely nothing she could have done to prevent it. At the same time, even though her assignment had been short, she had met a lot of people, dealt with situations beyond anything she had been led to expect on this mission, and been generally useful to the society. She hoped that whoever made these decisions would take those factors into account when selecting her next assignment. She knew she'd have to be in mourning for at least a year before remarrying, so that should give her a bit of time before her next mission would begin. Out of the corner of her eye, Jisoo saw Suyeon approaching. "Is everything ready, Suyeon?" she asked. "Yes ma'am," Suyeon said. "I've got our breakfast here, and the driver appears to have the coach ready." "Very well," Jisoo said. "Let us go." The roads in this part of Korea were nowhere near the quality of the roads that Jisoo had previously traveled. In fact, they were nowhere near the quality of the roads they had traveled on the day before, which had themselves been rather bad. After yet another pothole had jostled them around again, causing them to bang their heads together before landing with a jolt back in their seats, Jisoo said "If we make it through today's journey with all of our bones intact, I shall never again complain about the coach ride from the academy to Seoul." "I've always dreamed of going to Seoul," Suyeon said. "Do you think our mutual friends will send me there at some point?" "I imagine so," Jisoo said, "and I shall likely send you there at some point during your training, so you will get to see it sooner than you might expect." "Pleas