When Lady Miyoung released a low moan from the back of , it was the moment Taeyeon caught her senses back. She stopped the kiss straight away, still feeling the heat of their bodies and a little embarrassment on kissing Lady Miyoung like that.

“Miyoung!” Taeyeon gulped, feeling her chest rise up and down completely out of pace. “What...what just... happened?” Miyoung lowered her head, still having her breathing pattern on Taeyeon’s ears. Taeyeon’s hands were trembling.

“Lady Miyoung… We are not...supposed… to do that...” Taeyeon closed her eyes. “We can’t do that… It’s against the law...” She clenched her fists, never feeling so many emotions at the same time.

When Miyoung grazed her finger on her jawline, Taeyeon gulped nervously. The hand of Lady Miyoung’s on her face made Taeyeon instinctively hover her own hand over Miyoung’s.

“You sure… are amazing…” Her whole body got warmed up again and a feeling of shyness overwhelmed her.

“Lady… Miyoung?”

Lady Miyoung sighed, her pale face got pink-ish tones due to her blushing around the cheeks. “I know….”

“You know? You know what?” Taeyeon asked, frowning.

“It’s illegal…” She said, retrieving her hands away from Taeyeon’s face. “I just…” The second of silence made Taeyeon turn her eyes back to hers. “I just...”

“We already talked about this, Lady Miyoung…” Taeyeon closed her eyes, feeling her guts twist up internally. “And it isn’t a kiss of gratitude this time around, is it?”

Miyoung actually chuckled for that. “You are unbelievable sometimes!”

“Thanks!”

“It’s not a compliment!”

Taeyeon blinked, not understanding it. There was a second of silence and Miyoung stood up herself from her position, leaving Taeyeon to feel a little bit colder in that time of the night. She lifted her eyes to meet Lady Miyoung’s.

“I’m pretty sure you know what kind of kiss this one was, Taeyeon…” Taeyeon felt her heart beat in double time. “But I know you are too chivalrous and too dumb to even consider what I feel inside and how much I needed that!” Her voice came out firmly, and Taeyeon felt like she was being scolded by a teacher.

“Miyoung...”

The woman sighed, closing her eyes and fists, a little bit frustrated. Taeyeon felt her chest ache for a second or two.

“Never mind. Forget it.” She said it, suddenly, making Taeyeon feel like Miyoung was somewhat angry with her.

“Miyoung…”

“Good night!”

“Miyou-” Taeyeon tried to reach her hand. But the lady yanked it away.

“Good night, Taeyeon!”

And when she got inside the tent, leaving Taeyeon by herself there, Taeyeon found herself very cold and distressed. She let her back lie in the ground, not minding the sand and stones there, and her eyes gazed at the starred night.

Her young heart was still beating fast, and she was super confused by what just happened.

Lady Miyoung had just kissed her.

A fuzzy feeling started to come back on her lips and Taeyeon felt the need to her own lips to make it go away. The sensation of Miyoung’s lips against hers felt so nice. The sensation of Miyoung’s body against hers felt so nice. It’s like they didn’t even need the bonfire there to make them feel warm and hot, just them both together were already set.

Taeyeon couldn’t remember the last time she felt that way. Not only did she feel some excitement, she also felt comfort. As if she found her moment of solace after a hard day of labour. It felt good.

Really good.

For a brief moment, it made Taeyeon feel like she was on top of the world.

And for a brief moment, all that Taeyeon wanted was to keep kissing Lady Miyoung.

But she couldn’t do that.

It would be so much easier if she was a boy.

But she wasn’t.

And Taeyeon had to be reminded of that. For that reason, she couldn’t keep kissing Lady Miyoung.

She couldn’t allow Lady Miyoung to have her heart broken like that.

So it’s for the best if they don’t kiss anymore.

“Just forget it, Taeyeon.” She said to herself. “Just pretend it is nothing.” She closed her eyes, feeling the breeze of the desert hit her face once again. The cold bothered her and she caught herself missing Miyoung’s body against hers.

“Just ignore it.” She gulped, still managing to feel Miyoung’s taste on her lips. “Tomorrow is another day. And she will probably forget it too. It’s just a slip. It’s not gonna happen again.”

~~*~~

There was some silence between Taeyeon and the rest of the group when the morning came. Taeyeon averted her eyes away from Lady Miyoung, still a little bit embarrassed for the kiss they shared, and Heechul didn’t seem in a good mood either, as he was quiet and serious, only making an effort to have a conversation when Taeyeon asked him a question or two.

Great. Now two people were avoiding her.

Well, actually three, as Seohyun also wasn’t so glad by how Taeyeon spoke about Lady Miyoung the day before.

Taeyeon felt like she was indeed in pace to have a bad day. Not only did she wake up with back-pain due to her sleeping on the ground, she hated when people ignored her. And above that, it was all her closest friends in the group who were giving her the cold shoulder.

And she didn’t really deserve it.

She was right about what she said. And truly she was hurt by the action of Lady Miyoung on killing those gisaeng girls. It’s true that it was a relief that Taeyeon's secret hasn’t been exposed in the worst way possible, but they also didn’t deserve their ending. And Lady Miyoung needed to hear that and think about the consequences of her actions.

Taeyeon was really nervous to start any conversation with Lady Miyoung after the kiss they both shared and wasn’t really sure if it was even appropriate to try talking to her about it after the ordeal. Especially because Seohyun was nearby and Taeyeon didn’t want to talk about the kiss to Miyoung with Seohyun and Heechul around, as she was sure those two would become very angry and bitter if they knew what even had happened the night before.

Seohyun was so loyal to her lady that she wouldn’t really be in favor of Taeyeon in any way, especially if she hears that a kiss happened between the two. Seohyun would probably just skin Taeyeon alive if she hears that Taeyeon and Miyoung shared a passionate kiss hidden from everybody else. Seohyun was disappointed with Taeyeon for how she treated Lady Miyoung back there. Calling Miyoung ‘lady of roses and ’ wasn’t indeed very nice or polite.

But Heechul…

He didn’t need to be angry with her.

Unless he knew about the kiss Miyoung and Taeyeon shared. But that didn’t seem to be correct either. If Heechul was aware that a kiss happened between Taeyeon and Miyoung, he would be furious. He would probably never shut up about it. But he didn’t bring anything up so far. Taeyeon didn’t tell Heechul anything and she had a feeling that Miyoung wouldn’t dare to tell him either.

So what was the reason he was mad with her? Taeyeon couldn’t really pinpoint a motif.

As noon approached, the silence of the whole group was starting to get into Taeyeon’s skin, making her a tad angry with their overall behavior. Why were they still ignoring her?

As they went past a merchant route, the desert landscape started to shift to have a bit more vegetation and some small animals like rodents and lizards.

At least they were finally leaving that desert behind.

“Let’s make it a stop.” Lady Miyoung called on top of her horse. Her voice was firm and serious. “Just to allow ourselves to eat and rest for a minute.”

“Okay, sounds good for me! I’m in need of a rest after riding this horse for so long!” Heechul approved, climbing down from Ginger himself. “You’re starting to think like me, Lady Hwang.” Oohh, talking smoothly to Lady Hwang, isn’t he?

“Since when you two became close?” Taeyeon asked, frowning, still on top of Ginger.

“Close?” Heechul turned himself to her.

“Hmm… you could barely stand upright beside her.” Taeyeon pointed to Lady Miyoung with her head. “You were always complaining about her but now you seem so close and...hmm… friendly to one another.”

“We solved our differences.” Heechul answered.

“You did?”

“Yes. It helps that Lady Hwang is a thoughtful and sensible lady.”

“Is she?” Taeyeon squinted her eyes, still not sure how come those two came along well after the bickering they used to have in the beginning of their journey.

“Yes, don’t you think?” He asked her, and Taeyeon felt her shoulders get heavy somehow.

“I guess…” Taeyeon said, unsure, and she felt a dense atmosphere installing there around her for some reason.

“Let’s just rest then.” Seohyun called, firmly, getting near Heechul to help him set their camp up.

“Why can’t we move on?” Taeyeon asked, not liking they have to make a stop there. “I’m sure we could reach Gwangju in no time if we keep going. No need to stop here.”

“Gwangju won’t move from its spot.” Lady Miyoung came forward. “As we are all tired, there is no problem at resting for a couple of minutes.”

“But…”

“Lady Miyoung is tired!” Seohyun replied just as instantly. “We will stop here, rest and then move!” She said firmly. “If you are not in for that, you can go ahead to Gwangju without bothering with us!”

Taeyeon blinked her eyes.

Oof. It seemed like everyone was against her that day.

“Yeah, maybe I could!” Taeyeon was feeling a little angry for how they were bluntly avoiding her and she decided to ride Ginger away to cool off her head.

“Am I the wrong one here, Ginger?” She asked her own horse while riding him away. “How come I’m the one being attacked, insulted and ignored? How come they are behaving like it was all my fault? I had no fault in anything. Just because I spilled some truth, now they’re hurt and I’m supposed to feel bad about that? It makes no sense!” She complained to anyone in particular, just her own horse. “I came back for them! And then that stupid lady starts kissing me and I’m trying to protect her and Rosegarden from any harm that could come out from that kiss because she obviously is so dense and doesn’t understand the consequences! And this is how they thank me? Ignoring me and pretending all it was my fault? That is just ridiculous!” Ginger just puffed curiously at a plant nearby, not minding Taeyeon’s outburst. “Ginger...You are ignoring me too?” She lowered her head, a little defeated. “Man… this is gonna be a long day...”

All that she wanted was for them to reach Gwangju.

So they could all rest without worries and Taeyeon could have her bath once again and give her a break from those people for once.

~~*~~

When she got back to the camp, she found Heechul sitting alone on the rocks there whereas Lady Miyoung and Seohyun were resting inside the tent. A little bonfire was near his feet, and he was using a wooden stick as a skewer to heat some bread up.

Taeyeon felt her stomach groan. She was hungry.

“Ah, I can see you finally decided to come back for your friends.” He greeted her, a little sarcastic and Taeyeon clenched her fists.

“I did it twice. But I guess you never really minded the first time.” She retorted it. “Or the hundreds of times before.”

“For someone who is eager to reach Gwangju you sure go all the way to ride your horse back in this desert, huh?”

“What I’m supposed to do? Stay with all of you? When no one is doing anything to ease the situation?” She asked, still a little angry with her friend.

“Ease the situation?”

“You’re all ignoring me. You’re all making this somehow shift the blame to me. As if I were wrong here. I’m not wrong. I wasn’t wrong. And I won’t say sorry.”

“No one is asking for your apologies…”

“Oh really?” Taeyeon approached him, her voice a little drier than usual. “Then why are you not talking to me?” She asked him firmly.

Heechul didn’t answer, he twisted his lips sideways.

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