Sungmin had half hoped that he would wake up in the simple room surrounded by a plain white colour as he did two months ago. But when he opens his eyes again, the wooden ceiling and red bricks immediately disappoint him. He is back in his chamber in the Palace, with all its complex architecture and decorations. It takes him a minute to realise that he is not alone in his room. 

The King sits solemnly beside his mattress. His eyes look redder than usual, which Sungmin guesses comes from lack of sleep. As he tries to get up, the pain from his fresh wounds and from kneeling for too long is immediately sent throughout his body, which solicits an "Ah" from himself. Only then does the King looks at him, his eyes remaining red and even more solemn than usual.

As Sungmin decides to lie back down again, he hears the King's deep voice echoing throughout the room: "Why do you have to do this, Sungmin?"

Sungmin looks at him for a moment. He knows perfectly what he is referring to, but he has become fed up with repeating himself over and over again. So he only utters the most simple words that he could think of at the moment.

"It is the right thing to do, jeonha."

The King shakes his head at him.

"The right thing?" he scoffs, and for one second, the King seems not to be scoffing at Sungmin, but at himself, and at all the ridiculousness of life.

"Jeonha, this is good for the Royal Family in the long term as well. You can't hide a secret forever, and when it eventually comes out, it will destroy any trust that people have in you, in the Court, and in the Royal Family." Sungmin's voice is as calm as usual, and as he speaks, he can see that the King is no longer protesting to his idea.

"No," but the King continues to shake his head, "I can't reopen a closed case when there is no further proof or need for it. And don't mention again the man that you met in Yangjae forest. That's not enough to open an investigation into three of the most powerful men in Joseon. I need more."

Sungmin is more surprised as the King finishes his sentence. For him, this does not sound like a refusal, but rather a suggestion. He nods at the King, as he now knows what to do. After another look, the King stands up and leaves the room. Sungmin immediately summons Jongwoon afterwards.

"Jongwoon," he says when the other is barely even in the room yet, "I need you to do two things for me."

"Yes, mama." Jongwoon responds without hesitation.

"First, I need you to send a letter to Kyuhyun. And second, I need to spread a rumour around Hanyang. As quick as possible."

*******

One week later,

In downtown Hanyang, a rumour has been circulating around the crowded city centre that there seemed to be inconsistencies with Minister Jun's treason case fifteen years ago. At the time, the case and the purge of the whole Jun family was a shock to a number of people in Hanyang as well as throughout the country. As Minister Jun had such progressive ideas on how to improve the lives of thousands of poor people in Joseon, he was well-loved by the common people. Many believed that Minister Jun would be the saviour of Joseon, pulling its people out of poverty and misery and bringing Joseon back to its primetime. 

But over one dark and gloomy night, all their hopes and dreams had been crushed with the purge of the Jun family. In one night, the Jun residence was buried in the blood and bones of everyone inside, including the man who they once thought was their saviour. After the events that happened at the Jun residence, Hanyang witnessed its largest riot in hundreds of years. People in Hanyang as well as neighbouring provinces rushed to the capital to take part in the riot to demand justice for the Jun family. They rallied in front of the gate to the Royal Palace and refused to go back to work. Life was completely on hold for noble families. Without the labour of thousands of servants, farmers, street vendors and small traders, noble families found it impossible to maintain life in their households. So the Royal Court sought the assistance of their army to suppress the riot. It took them more than six months to completely get back control of the city, with the assistance of more than one thousand soldiers. After the riot, hundreds of people were killed and injured. So for a period of time after that, their dream of a revolution had to be temporarily pushed to the back of their minds. And for fifteen years, that dream was thought to be dormant forever.

Until today, when rumours of Minister Jun's innocence are being spread around the city like seeds in a garden. Particularly, there is a rumour that Minister Jun was framed for a crime he did not commit fifteen years ago, and everything was a conspiracy by his rivals in the Royal Court to get rid of him. The names of the rivals remain a mystery, so at the moment, people are guessing left and right the identities of the officials that were involved in the whole mess, leaving no possible names out.

Besides this rumour, there is also talk of a man who had survived the Jun family's purge all those years ago. The man had been a servant in the Jun residence, and the night of the tragedy, he was not present at the scene, thus, was spared his life. He had been in hiding all these years, and finally, he decided to come forward and accuse three officials in the Royal Court of framing Minister Jun fifteen years ago. Today was the day that he came forward to the local investigators, which only adds fuel to the fire that has been ignited in people for the past week.

Sitting in a busy tavern in downtown Hanyang, Kyuhyun and Jungho, both wearing hats that cover completely their faces, listen carefully to all the discussion that has been going on all morning. At a table, a group of young men seem to be arguing about the number of people who took part in the riot fifteen years ago. In another corner, a couple of older looking men are discussing the possible meanings of the rumours as well as the consequences that it would lead to. Jungho seems to be completely absorbed in the conversations, as if only being a small part of them can make him feel somewhat important.

"Doryeonnim," after a while of observing the men engaged in their own conversations, Jungho seems to get back to reality, "these rumours are Lee Doryeonnim's idea?"

Kyuhyun looks at him for a while, studying his intention in asking the question. Then, when he detects no ill-meaning in Jungho's question, he slightly nods in confirmation.

"That Lee Doryeonnim is quite clever, isn't he?" Jungho says impressively.

For one second, Kyuhyun is surprised at his statement, but he quickly regains his calm exterior even though a warm feeling suddenly emerges inside him.

They sit there for another hour before there are suddenly loud chanting and rushing footsteps outside the tavern. Outside on the main road, a group of approximately one hundred people of all ages and genders seems to be in some kind of a rally. "Bring justice to the Jun family," they keep chanting as the whole group parades through the busy city centre, hands holding rusty farming and garden tools as weapons. This immediately gets Kyuhyun's attention, not only because he is directly involved in the matter, but also because a familiar scene is suddenly conjured up in his mind. The image of two young boys getting caught up in a similar situation. His own anger and mistake. A lot of blood and shouting.

Kyuhyun quickly rushes out of the tavern and follows the crowd, leaving behind Jungho's confused expression. Just as he had expected, within fifteen minutes of the rally, Kyuhyun could hear loud and organized footsteps coming from another direction. In a short moment, the city police appear in front of the crowd. The head of the troop said something which is indistinct to Kyuhyun, but guessing from his attitude, it could not be a warm greeting. After that, the crowd loudly chants "Bring justice to the Jun family" again and again, which seems to test the police's limit.

As the people continue to chant, the head of the police troop gestured to his men, and in a moment, the troop surrounded the crowd and began to attack them. Among the crowd, some men holding farming and garden tools are able to fight back. But as Kyuhyun looks to the group of women standing in one corner, they seem frightened of the extreme violence going on before their eyes, so they only stand close to each other, watching the events unfold.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Kyuhyun sees a group of guards approaching the women from another direction. In their eyes, Kyuhyun could see clearly their ruthlessness and lust for violence. Immediately, he rushes to the group of women and fights against the guards. The guards are clearly no match for Kyuhyun, as he can take all five of them in only a few moves. A few of the women gasp out of surprise and fear, but when Kyuhyun turns to look at them again, the first person he sees right in front of him is an elderly woman about seventy of age. She smiles kindly at Kyuhyun, which shows off clear crow's feet next to her eyes. "Thank you, nauri." As she speaks to him, a few women standing behind her show obvious suspicion towards him. This is understandable, after all, as for all they know, Kyuhyun could be a nobleman, judging from his appearance and skills.

But Kyuhyun does not mind their attitude. He quickly leads the old woman into an empty alley nearby, which prompts the rest of the women to follow. Only when they are safe inside the alley does Kyuhyun gently return the smile.

"That's okay." He says lightly to the woman. Hearing his tone, the few women who were suspicious before slowly become less tense.

"Halmeoni!" Out of the crowd, a young man suddenly rushes towards the elderly woman.

Kyuhyun is about to take defence when he sees the relaxing expression of the woman. This seems to be someone that she knows. The man quickly comes to stand next to her, eyes filled with worry.

"Are you okay, halmeoni?" The young man asks concernedly.

"I am okay. Thanks to this nauri here." The woman smiles again.

Hearing the word 'nauri', the man immediately turns towards Kyuhyun, his eyes now filled with fear and suspicion.

"You are in the government?" He asks, his voice has somehow become even more concerned than before.

"No." Kyuhyun says firmly.

"Then you are part of the rally?" He asks again.

Kyuhyun is about to deny when he contemplates his answer again, and decides to answer "Yes".

The young man as well as the women quickly become more relaxed with his answer. The man asks the old woman a few more questions, leading Kyuhyun to believe that they are in fact grandmother and grandson.

"Excuse me." Kyuhyun suddenly speaks up. There has been an uneasiness sitting inside him ever since he saw the rally. And now that he is with a group of people who have taken part in the rally, he decides to finally voice it out. "But may I ask why you guys take part in this rally? It seems so dangerous, and you are only women."

Hearing this, the young man immediately flicks Kyuhyun in the shoulder. "Yah, do I look like a woman?" He laughs. The old woman only smiles at him.

"Nauri, you don't know this, but sixteen years ago, my family was on the verge of starvation. Everyone, including my parents in law, my husband, my son, his wife and son, who was only five years old at the time, was living on no more than one piece of fruit day after day. The local officials were embezzling every penny they could get from the support the government had given us, so the people got nothing. No one was willing to fight for us. Except for Minister Jun. He reported this to the King and directly came to the province where we were living to inspect the problem and deliver food from Hanyang. We lived, thanks to him. So now, we are ready to die for him."

As the woman reminisced the darkest times of her life, Kyuhyun could see a kind of light in her eyes. He has seen this light a thousand times before. It is the light in Sungmin's eyes every time he speaks of justice, of the operation, and of their mission.

Kyuhyun smiles gently at her.

"Without Minister Jun, none of us would be here today." The woman continues as she turns to the rest of the group. "Not me. Not Mina, my daughter-in-law. Not Minsoo, my neighbour, and her daughter, Inna. And not my grandson Sanghun. What happened to Minister Jun was such a tragedy." The woman sighs, her eyes now far away as if reminiscing the events like they had happened to herself. "If he had lived, his son would have been the same age as Sanghun." Then, the woman turns to Kyuhyun and considers for a moment. She could not see his face, but after a second, she continues: "And you, nauri. He would have been the same age as you".

Kyuhyun suddenly feels a tremor throughout his body. Without a single wind, Kyuhyun is suddenly shivering out of control. His palm tightens into a fist. His eyes and nose feel like they are burning. He immediately looks away from the woman and clears his throat. After a long moment of calming himself down, Kyuhyun bids the group goodbye and heads back to the rally. He is determined to beat down on every guard that dares to come near the people in the rally. But before leaving, he turns around to see the group of women and the young man again. Suddenly, a warm feeling emerges inside him. He smiles to them again and quickly walks out of the alley.

Sometimes, a chance encounter with a stranger can unexpectedly bring the best out of people and let them see the light at the end of the tunnel.