Miyoung felt her heart skip a beat or two when Taeyeon put himself next to hers. The wonky sword Taeyeon made for her wasn’t exactly straight, and Miyoung’s hand trembling wasn’t helping in maintaining the grip on the handle properly.

Taeyeon used the scabbard of his own sword to fix Miyoung’s hand position in relation to her arm, shoulder and height, keeping it on a straight line. “Hold it, firmly.” He said, and Miyoung tried to tighten her grip around the handle of the sword harder.

“It’s a bit heavy.” Miyoung complained, feeling her arm getting tired.

“It’s not heavy. It’s just wood. You think it’s heavy because you are not used to bear a sword.”

“Steel swords are heavier?” Miyoung asked, interested.

“It depends. A sword must be the extension of your arm.” He gently said. “Can you drop you arm? No. Do you think your arm is too heavy for you? No. So the feeling with bearing a sword must be the same. However if you bear a sword that wasn’t really personally commissioned for you, it can feel… wrong. Like, unadjusted.” He explained, Miyoung just listened with attention. “A sword must have the right weight to it. It must consider your height, the length of your arm in relation to your shoulders, chest, and all your upper body. Every sword you bear is different. They can be mass produced, being a little bit generic, like the swords used by some wings of the military, or they can be made exclusively for certain groups of people, like kings and generals and warriors, with other purposes, and with different builds and shapes. They can be a one-handed sword or a two-handed sword. They can be shorter like daggers or longer like katanas. There’s a lot that goes on a real steel-like sword.”

“Yours isn’t long.” Miyoung said, suddenly.

“What?”

“Your sword isn’t particularly long.” She repeated, soon feeling her cheeks getting warmer. She really hoped he wouldn’t take that sentence to another meaning. “Purpose is not a long sword, I mean. Nor did I feel it was too heavy.” Miyoung recalled the moment where she used Taeyeon’s sword to kill the gisaeng girls. She didn’t feel like the sword was too heavy for her.

“Purpose is a light sword.” He agreed. “It’s made of dark metal, which is less dense than steel. It is a couple of inches shorter than most average blades because I’m a-~”

“Small person?” Miyoung advanced looking at him, which she saw his cheeks getting shades of red. He cleared his throat.

“Eyes at front, Miyoung.” He commanded, Miyoung didn’t obey. Her eyes still looking at his face. Miyoung felt like she wanted to kiss him again. If she could, Miyoung would spend the rest of her days kissing that man at her side.

He was a couple of inches shorter than her, that was true, but that was the only disadvantage Miyoung could think of from that bastard boy. Everything else about him was just… perfection. His jawline, the bridge of his nose, the shape of his eyes and eyelids, his hairline, his ing hair. My god, his hair. His hair had been loosened down for the past few days as he had lost his hair-band which he used to keep his hair tight in a bum on top of his head. And the way his raven hair cascaded it to his shoulders and complemented the lines of his face was magnificent. Miyoung truly felt like she was in the presence of some sort of prince.

“You alright?” He asked her, realizing Miyoung wasn’t really paying attention to whatever he was saying. Miyoung felt her young heart palpitating hard against her chest. “Miyoung?” And he was calling her Miyoung! It’s been days since Taeyeon had dropped his formalities and is calling Miyoung without the title of Lady, which Miyoung didn’t really care whatsoever about. Having Taeyeon calling her just Miyoung was so incredible. It made Miyoung feel like they were close friends, that they didn’t have this barrier of blood and birth-line between them. Almost like… they were a couple. “Miyoung? Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.” She answered, still looking at his face.

“So, keep your eyes at front.” He commanded again, and Miyoung averted her gaze, looking ahead of hers instead of Taeyeon’s handsome face. “Your enemy could strike you if you’re not careful enough.” He said.

“It’s because you keep distracting me!” Miyoung complained.

“How so?”

Miyoung chose not to answer.

Taeyeon just sighed and put one hand over Miyoung’s wrist bearing the sword, and the other on her waistline, guiding Miyoung to keep her posture at the right angle. “You have to balance your weight on your legs too. They help you keep your hold tight and firm.”

“Ok.”

“These clothes of yours also don’t help.” He complained.

“Why?”

“Too much fabric. It can get it on the way around your movements.”

“Hm...It’s a simple maiden hanbok I bought at Stoneguard. Other than this clothing, I only have the gown I wore to confront Shin Yunsuk during your trial. You want me to put that on?” She asked, retrieving her arm back and turning herself around Taeyeon.

“That would be even worse.” Taeyeon recalled. “You need to wear pants and a waistband. It helps maintain your posture and there is less stuff around you that could get it on the way in a real fight.” He called attention to his own clothing, consisting of a black male hanbok, with white collar and sleeves, a dark faded silver waistband and black pants. Taeyeon also had a second pair of hanbok and pants, which were of silver colors, making him resemble colors of metal and iron due to his hometown. His clothes were of poor fabric on closer inspection and with far less details and less layers of fabrics than the ones Miyoung remembered seeing higher noblemen wearing.

“So you’re saying I should wear male clothing?”

“It certainly helps.”

“But I’m a woman!”

“And what about it?” Taeyeon questioned. “Clothes don’t have genders. You should wear what makes you better at sword fighting. Or whatever activity you are about to do. If you go hunting deer, you can’t wear a higher-end purple hanbok, can you? It makes you stand out from nature and the animal will avoid you like the plague.”

“That makes sense.”

“You don’t need to wear male clothing all the time, just when you are practicing sword fighting.”

“Hmm…”

“Once we find some tailoring vendors, we’ll look at some clothes for you.”

“Alright. It’s fine. I don’t think it will be much of a problem. If I could dress up myself as a , surely I can dress up myself as a man!”

“Aye, so thoughtful with your words, ain’t it?” Taeyeon ironically said, making Miyoung chuckle. “Lift your arm up. Bear you sword.” He asked, and Miyung obeyed, trying to maintain her arm in a straight angle with her wooden blade pointing at Taeyeon’s face. “Right now, you’re making eye contact with your opponent and threatening him with the pointy-end of your weapon. It’s better for you to turn a little to the side, because that makes your figure slimmer and hard to hit.”

“Got it.” Miyoung obeyed, letting herself turn a little to the side, still maintaining her grip on the sword. “And now I stick my enemy with the pointy-end?”

Taeyeon smiled. “No. You can’t just simply start attacking without reading your enemy’s movements or trying to understand his intentions. If he is on an attacking stance, sometimes it is better to raise your guard, stay on the defensive, and then find openings to attack and your weapon at him.”

“Right.”

“Tonight, you’re going to learn about initial defense.”

“Initial defense?”

“Yes. How to raise your guard and stay on it.”

“I won’t learn how to attack?” She asked, curiously.

“No.”

“Why not? What’s the use of this lesson then? I want to learn how to attack!” She said, quite stubborn.

“You have a very straight and dominant character.” Taeyeon said.

“Is that a bad thing?” She asked, worriedly. It wasn’t really her fault that she had quite the temper. It was just Miyoung’s personality, there is nothing she could do much about that.

“Not really. But that just means you are more active than passive.”

“So is it a good thing?”

“Not really. That just means it is easier for you to look over your defense and go gung-ho without minding anything.”

“Hm…”

“And when you’re out there in the wild, fighting for real, you can’t be attacking all the time. Defense is just as important as offensive. For your type of character, it’s even more important.”

“Why? Offense is the best defense, no?”

“Defense is all about patience, endurance, observation and quick-thinking. It relies on your innate reflexes to preserve yourself from any harm.” Taeyeon said, walking around Miyoung as if he was some sort of shark swimming around his prey. “One second too late…and you’re dead.” He said, touching Miyoung’s ribs just beneath her extended arm with the scabbard of his own sword. “One second too earlier, and you’re telling your enemy where your guard is. And you’ll end up dead again.”

Miyoung blinked.

“All those virtues must be worked and improved upon your own self-being if you want to defend well. And for you type of character, those virtues take a longer time to fall and stick.”

“Hmm…” Miyoung agreed to his observations.

“Offensive is all about explosion, instinct, control and decision-making. Once you go for a , you need to commit, you can’t be indecisive. You need to have on your mind what result you want to achieve in that split second of a fight and go for it. There should be no regrets.”

“So you’re saying offense is like fire and defense is like water?”

“Or wood and metal. They are opposites of each other, but each has their own strengths and weaknesses. But because your personality is very straightforward and dominant, that means offense is just natural to you. So in other words, you need to practice defensive techniques way harder for them to stick with you till they become second-nature than offensive ones due to your personality.”

“That makes sense.”

“So, you’re not gonna really learn offensive techniques for a while.”

“That’s a bummer.” Miyoung complained.

Taeyeon smiled. “Once you get somewhat decent at your defensive skills, you’ll learn attacking moves.”

“Was the same with you and your Master Kim?” She asked, interested.

“Actually, it was the other way around.” He said, smiling.

Miyoung actually thought that it was sensible. “You mean you learned attacking moves first?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “It was way harder for me to commit my decisions in general. So Master Kim taught me how to connect with my instincts, drop my indecisions and just go gung-ho before learning defense.”

Yeah, Taeyeon really seemed the kind of passive guy.

“So you’re saying I’m like fire and you’re like water…” Miyoung commented, perking her lips up.

Taeyeon blinked. “Is that a competition I'm unaware of? Why are you feeling so victorious?”

“Nothing.” Miyoung chuckled.

“And if anything, If I’m water that makes me win over you.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Miyoung spoke up just as suddenly.

“It does. Water puts the fire out.”

“Fire evaporates water.”

“You know how hot the water must be in order to evaporate it?”

“It doesn’t matter. It still evaporates.”

“You are not better than me.”

“I’m not saying I am.”

“So stop smiling.”

“Oh, now I can’t smile?”

“No!”

Miyoung chuckled.

“Focus!” He called it again. “There is no time for chuckling on sword fighting.”

Miyoung felt her arm get extremely tired and lowered it back to its natural position. “Arm is killing me. It really hurts.”

Taeyeon sighed. “What am I gonna do with you, Miyoung?”

That stirred some feelings inside her. As they were all alone, Miyoung thought it wouldn’t do bad to answer the way she wanted it. “I’ve got some ideas in mind.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.” She felt her heart skip a beat.

“I hope it’s not what I’m thinking of?”

“What are you thinking of?” She asked, curiously.

Taeyeon didn’t answer. “Rather not tell.” That made Miyoung smile, a feeling of warmth and comfort embracing her for that time being. Miyoung loved to be around his company. Taeyeon was sensible and thoughtful and he never really seemed to be bothered by Miyoung’s temper or anything. He didn’t really seem to care that Miyoung had a dominant character, which was something Miyoung was really grateful for. Taeyeon was the first man Miyoung met that she really felt like she could be just herself in his presence, without any fear of retaliation. Without worrying of what he might be thinking of hers. She was so grateful to him that she didn’t realize that words had come out of just there in the open. “Thank you.”

“What for?” He asked, blinking, confused.

“For being like water.” She answered, Taeyeon frowned.

“Still with this fire and water thing? If You think you are better because you are-

“I’m not saying anything.” Miyoung quickly added it, smiling. “You’re reaching this conclusion yourself. I just literally said, thank you for being like water.”

Taeyeon kept staring at her eyes.

“It’s not a bad thing.” Miyoung started saying, trying to connect her thoughts. “Water is formless, shapeless. Water makes it through cracks, runs around blocks and pierce stones. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. If you put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. If you put it into a bowl, it becomes the bowl. Water can flow and can crash. It’s moldable, tranquil, smooth and flexible. That is very you.” Miyoung said. Taeyeon blinked. “And it’s nice...that...you are like that…”

“See? I win.” Taeyeon said suddenly, making Miyoung laugh off it. “That is a nice way to put it, though.” He added. “That was very clever. Be like water, Miyoung.”

“I’ll try.” Taeyeon smiled, looking away for a second and Miyoung felt her heartbeat increasing its speed. His eyes were big and so full of life and charming, Miyoung felt something she never really felt before towards a man. Endearment. He was handsome and cute at the same time, sometimes he reminded her of a young kid, even though Taeyeon was a couple years older than her. Miyoung felt so much warmth and affection towards Taeyeon that she wanted to hold him as tight as she could, have him around her arms forever and kiss him until the end of times.

But she knew she couldn’t.

Not because of the law.

Yes, it was true that by the laws of the Estate of Joseon they couldn’t.

But there was something cold and bitter growing inside of hers every time she thinks of those laws and conventions. Yes, nobleborns couldn’t really touch lowborns, they couldn’t even share the same space sometimes. But why was she the one supposed to obey all those rules? Miyoung heard stories of her own brother looking up for some services in brothels and gisaeng houses, and those women were all but noble-children. Her own husband, Shin Yunsuk, had a dozen concubines at his disposal. So why Miyoung couldn’t have the same? She didn’t even want a dozen male consorts… she just wanted Taeyeon. Just him. Only him. Why couldn’t she have that?

She could have him. She was the Lady of Rosegarden and she should have the freedom to choose the man she wanted for herself.

But Taeyeon was too righteous to let anything happen between them. And if Miyoung dares to kiss him again, there he goes, refusing her. It was grating her skin. The way he backs off and starts with that moral code of his. Miyoung hated that.

And she didn’t really want to make their relationship awkward or anything.

So even if Miyoung wa