The next morning, Heechul and Seohyun were busy finishing packing the tents up, when Miyoung approached Taeyeon sitting on some rocks nearby. He was holding the map in his hands, looking for the direction they needed to go in order to reach Gwangju.

“Are we close?” Miyoung asked, curiously.

“A couple of days off.” Taeyeon answered, placing the map on the ground so Miyoung could see it as well. His finger pointed towards the trail they were about to go. Miyoung noticed Taeyeon’s long index finger and round nail. “But we shall not have problems on our journey. Gwangju is a rich state and we wouldn’t need to worry about desert lands and their lack of food or water.”

“You’ve cut your nails?” She asked, curiously. Taeyeon raised his head and blinked.

“Excuse-me?”

“Have you cut your nails? Like trimmed it or something? It looks surprisingly neat for a warrior like you.” She found that funny somehow.

“Uh..” Taeyeon looked over to the side, his cheeks becoming a light shade of red. Miyoung chuckled.

“Is that a yes?”

Taeyeon gulped. “Please, doesn’t misunderstand me…”

“Misunderstand you?”

“Before leaving Stoneguard… I went to a guesthouse...”

“A guesthouse?”

“And called for some services…” He continued. “I had spent a couple of days in a prison and it’s been a while since I had a proper shower, so I renewed my hygiene.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, so I trimmed my nails and bathed myself… using some oils and exfoliation.”

“Exfoliation?” She frowned.

“Yes, they can make your skin smoother and paler because you remove the dead cells...”

“That’s funny.” Miyoung chuckled. “I didn’t know boys were concerned about those matters too.”

“Not all boys are like that…” Taeyeon soon corrected it. “It’s just me and my personal preference… Sometimes the boys make fun of me because of that…”

“Do they?”

“Yeah… like ”You’re a man, why do you do those sorts of girly things?”, you know?”

“They make fun of you because you are their friend and they are close to you. They mean no harm.”

“Yeah, I know, I didn’t mean it that way.” Taeyeon concurred. “It’s just that sometimes, it gets boring to be the of the joke every single time.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” She chuckled. “You are a good man, Taeyeon. A little weird, but a good man nonetheless.”

“Weird?” He widened out his eyes, seemingly worried about that. “How weird?”

“I don’t mean like crazy weird… I mean…like...different.” She said, thinking of all the traits she could find in the man just beside her. “You are surprisingly gullible, naive, respectful, sensitive and thoughtful. These are not bad traits per se, it’s just that they are not very found in men altogether. Another man could look at you and think you are just skin and bones, a weakling with no sense of sharpness and endurance for fighting…”

“Thanks…” He said sarcastically.

Miyoung smiled. “But you are strong in your own ways. And you can make people follow you. They genuinely like you. And are willing to help you. People look up to you. Because they know you are a good person.”

“Thanks…” Taeyeon smiled in honesty this time around.

Miyoung chuckled. “So, what’s our next stop?”

Taeyeon turned his attention to his map again. Miyoung was a little lost following the map and its information as it was written in Hangul. She didn’t know how to read Hangul.

“If we just head towards here…” He pointed it out. “We might arrive in Gwangju in just a matter of days. It’s a port-city, so we can board ships heading towards the east right away.” He moved his finger following the southern coast line towards the east. “Any ship going to Busan might do the work.”

“Should be easy to get one heading there. Busan is huge. Second biggest province of Joseon. The bigger the province, the broader the trading methods are. Their canals might have trade with lots of different provinces and cities in Joseon and should not be difficult for us to fetch a boat towards Busan.”

“And while on Busan, we take another boat, heading towards northern provinces. Till we reach Riversvale.” He added up.

“Once we get to Riversvale we can count on The Lee Family, Masters of the Estate, to secure us. And with their help getting through the woods of the midlands till we reach Rosegarden.” Miyoung rounded up the plan.

“Perfect.” Taeyeon rounded up. “Now that we don’t have Shin Yunsuk on our ankles, we should not worry about his stupid army or his stupid laws.”

“There you go, seems like our journey is free of problems.” Miyoung declared.

Taeyeon scoffed. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Lady Miyoung…”

“Why not?”

“If there is one thing you need to know about me...is that I have an uncanny talent of making troubles and problems appear in the most unusual and random ways.” Taeyeon said, honestly. “If you are willing to join my band, you must know that problems will come our way.”

“Like saving girls from golden armys?”

Taeyeon smiled. “Or noblemen harassing girls at desert lands…”

“Or drinking drugged tea from suspicious men when you have a bounty on your head?”

Taeyeon had his cheeks bright red like tomatoes. “Or that…”

Miyoung just chuckled, feeling herself get closer to him. “I’m willing to take the challenge.” She said. And she felt like she wanted to kiss him. But didn’t really dare to.

“Alright, good. That’s good to hear. Don’t blame me after.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” She spoke up, smiling. “As long as you stay with me, I won’t mind the troubles.”

He smiled timidly as well. “Alrighty.” He shook his head reluctantly. “Good… great… Uh-uh…” He cleared his throat. “I will help Heechul finish packing our things up.” He said, standing up from where he was and getting closer to his friend.

Miyoung had her eyes on the map still on the ground. Did that sound too desperate? Was she too straightforward for saying that? She didn’t want to make Taeyeon feel burdened or anything. She just meant that she wouldn’t mind the troubles along the journey. But it seemed to make the boy feel nervous or something.

“Lady Miyoung…” She heard Juhyun calling, getting closer to her.

“Yes, Juhyun…”

“Are you alright, Milady?”

“Yes…”

“What were you two talking about?” She asked her suspiciously, and Miyoung didn’t want to talk about that with her handmaiden.

“Nothing special really.” She sighed. “Just rounding our plan up and all…”

The handmaiden nodded her head, sitting on the spot that once served as Taeyeon’s seat. “You still like him, Milady?”

Miyoung actually chuckled for her question. “Honestly, Juhyun, you think I stopped liking him at any point somehow?”

“Not really.” She said. “After everything he did, it’s hard not to think you’d fall for him at some point.” Juhyun spoke up. “And it’s not like you two can be together, so your wish for him becomes bigger, doesn’t it?” Miyoung didn’t answer that. “Just be careful not to hurt yourself, Milady.” She asked, concernedly. “Pain should not be the price you pay for love.”

Miyoung looked at her handmaiden. “Hard to not be hurt, Juhyun. When I can’t really be with him how my heart desires.”

Juhyun squeezed Miyoung’s hand in sign of comfort. “I’m sorry, Lady Miyoung…”

“But I guess once we get to Rosegarden, I’ll be fine.” She spoke up, straightened up her posture. “I’ll be free from Yunsuk and manage to marry another man for myself. This time by my own choice. And things will get good again.”

Her handmaiden smiled but didn’t seem convinced. “You don’t like it?” Miyoung asked her.

“What?”

“You don’t like that I’ll be marrying another man?”

Juhyun blinked. “I’m not in the position to oppose any of your decisions, Milady. You, out of everyone, are deserving of choosing the man you wish to marry.”

“So… why you don’t look happy with that?”

Juhyun just scrunched her shoulders up. “I just don’t think it will be that easy for you to marry another man. Shouldn’t your marriage with Master Shin be annulled so you can proceed to marry another man? And I don’t think the meisters or the scholars will get an annulment for you that easily. Besides…” She sighed. “It’s not like you wanna marry any other guy than Leader Taeyeon, is it?” Miyoung looked away, not interested to face the facts spilled at her.

“I’ll find a way, Juhyun.” She crouched her knees closer to her chest. “I will find a way to have my marriage with Yunsuk annulled. And once we’re back to Rosegarden, we will have our happiness again.”

And Juhyun actually smiled, squeezing her hand once again. “I sincerely hope so, Milady.”

Miyoung sighed, backing her attention towards Taeyeon. Her young heart beating vividly inside her chest.

“How did you call the bastard boy when you spread your legs for him?” Miyoung remembered Yunsuk asking her, making her guts twist in a little bit of disgust on recalling such a question. “Did you let him touch your face? Did you let him kiss you?”

“And it’s not like you two can be together, so your wish for him becomes bigger, doesn’t it?”

Miyoung felt her heart was on fire. She never felt this way before. The way she could feel her bloodstream in her fingertips caught her off guard for a minute as she never really experienced that sort of feeling before. She doesn’t remember having those sorts of feelings for any one in her entire life. Everytime Miyoung looked at Taeyeon’s face there was something inside her warming up, earning to touch him, to kiss him, to feel him. She wondered if that would go away once Taeyeon sets himself away towards Hanyang and Miyoung is left to stay at Rosegarden.

She desperately wished so.

“Get ready to leave. We are departing in a couple of minutes!” She heard the voice of Heechul’s nearby.

She sighed, trying to ease her feelings and heart for the journey, and stood up from her spot.

“Let’s go, Juhyun. It’s about time we leave this place for good.”

“Yes, Lady Miyoung.”

~~*~~

The harshness of the sun and that arid terrain was taking its toll on Miyoung and the others. Miyoung could feel her lips dry and her vision blurred due to the heat. Even the horses seemed tired as they were puffing at every three seconds or so.

But as soon as her eyes caught the sight of a big walled terrace house, Miyoung quickly felt reinvigorated. Finally, a place that could have food and water! Finally a place where they could rest for a while!

She tapped her heels on her horse, making it trot towards the house she just saw. Taeyeon followed suit right after.

When they finally reached the house, Miyoung felt a little shy upon seeing the people coming and going through the gates of the place. That wasn’t an inn. Nor was it a conventional tavern.

It was a Gisaeng House.

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