“What? What you asking, Miyoung?” Taeyeon asked, shocked, his voice in a low weakly tune. Miyoung let her own eyes fell upon his face. Such a graceful face. Her fingers moved up and she grazed him around the ears.

Truth to be told, Miyoung didn’t know why she asked that. Not remotely on her full senses, she would have the nerve to ask him what she just had asked. There was something wrong with her. Something amiss, and she couldn’t tell the exact thing that it was, but it was something that was making her a little off.

“I don’t know.” She said, softly, long leaving her fingers from his face. “I’m sorry, Taeyeon, I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I...don’t know..” She gulped, putting herself straight at the bed, and looking up. “I feel like there is something… missing…” She said, sighing.

“Missing?”

“Yeah, I feel like… us... we are not… there yet?” She tried to carefully trail out her thoughts. “Like… at the same page? And...I don’t know… makes me feel like our relationship is a bit incomplete… and sometimes I have this feeling that… maybe… maybe… what is missing...is… this. Us. Together.”

Taeyeon stood silent, his eyes losing some of their usual sparkle. Miyoung wondered if she actually hit the nail on the head.

“Miyoung….” He sighed, his chest exhaling. “We’ve talked about this before…”

“I know…”

“You know we can’t really do it, right?”

“Yeah, I know! I just… It’s just makes me feel a little off.”

“I’m sorry, Miyoung. I don’t really think it’s a good idea to have this sort of conversation in this place, I don’t like being here in this ship, accompanied by the military. Especially because we don’t know how Officer Kim will take you once he figures out you are the Lady of Rosegarden.”

“Right.” Miyoung nodded her head, understanding. Even though she wanted to clear things for once and for all about her feelings and their overall relationship. But maybe Taeyeon was right. Maybe it was better to leave it for the next time.

“Besides. I’m still sick. So it wouldn’t be pleasant for you in the slightest.” That made her chuckle.

“I guess…. I’m sorry for what I said.”

“It’s fine, I understand.” Taeyeon nodded. “You are right. I might not be at my full commitment mode. It’s just that… this...is not the best of all places to have this discussion. Let alone the action you’ve just asked me.”

Miyoung smiled. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I implied. Didn’t know what hit me.”

“It’s fine. We should be careful though.” He turned his head up and closed his eyes. Miyoung noticed a couple of drops of sweat around his forehead.

Miyoung nodded. “You sure you don’t wanna drink your tea?” She suggested one more time.

“I don’t think it will help my cause. I’ve never been to a ship before. So it just makes my head and stomach confused.”

“I see...I will leave you be.” Miyoung spoke up, standing up from the bed. “Try having some sleep, I’m sure it will help.” Taeyeon just hummed a nod. “If you need anything, just give it a call, okay?”

“Sure.”

Miyoung left the room, soon feeling the air and the wind hitting her face as her feet walked outside the cabin. The guards bowed to her and she returned the gesture, leaving them behind and going to the main deck of the ship. There was no land yet to be seen, and the waves had been mostly mild on the open sea, Miyoung wondered if they would face any storm at the front.

“Excuse-me, Missy…” One soldier came to her side. “Commander Kim is asking you to meet him at his office.”

Miyoung did not know what to expect from Commander Kim on his own, but she decided to go forth with her own intuition and make the best of what she could given the situation they were in. So she promptly followed the soldier and let herself slide in the official cabin of the commander of that ship.

He was with a serious demeanor behind his desk, where Miyoung could see a map of Joseon all spread across his table. There was a big compass at the corner of the table and on the other corner, a big board of Go. The pieces were scattered around the board, as if he had played a game by himself but didn’t really finish it off, and Miyoung gave a respectful nod to him before sitting down.

“I hope you don’t mind asking you a few questions, woman.”

“Not at all, sir.”

“Why do you follow Kim Minseok’s son?”

“He has a name.” Miyoung called it. “Kim Taeyeon.”

“So…?”

“So you should call him by his name. Not his father’s name.”

“Are you aware of the position you are in? And who I am?”

Miyoung clenched her fists around the edge of her chair. Ah yes, of course. Military men and their entitled . “Yes, Taeyeon told me about you, sir. You are the commander of this voyage, on route to Mokpo Island, representing Gwangju and their forces.”

“And how dare you disrespect me?”

“I fail to see where I disrespected you, sir. All I did was tell you that Taeyeon is not his father, and that he has his own name and he should be properly called by it.”

“The legacy of his father lives within him. And for such, I call him the son of Kim Minseok’s. My friend and mentor.”

“As you wish, sir.” Miyoung was not in the mood to argue.

“It seems rather suspicious to me that a woman like you is following him around.”

“A woman like me?” Miyoung didn’t understand what he wanted to mean with that.

“You seem to have no regard for authority and our customs. Borderline savagery if I dare to say myself. So it feels a little suspicious that you are following the child of Kim Minseok’s, who always held high regard to the traditions of our land.”

That made Miyoung chuckle, which sounded like a scoff to him. “Is it part of your personality to offend people gratuitously or you do that only because of your military rank?” The officer blinked, not glad about what he just heard. “Would you say the same words you’ve just said in front of a king?”

“You take me as a fool?”

“No. I take you as a commander of the military. Military men often lack common sense. They think they are too untouchable to even remotely think through their words and actions thus putting their own selves in tough positions.”

The man squinted his small eyes, slightly offended by Miyoung’s words. “You’re not a common born, are you?”

“No. I’m Hwang Miyoung. The Lady of Rosegarden.”

~~*~~

When those words came out, Miyoung noticed the man widening his eyes, surprised and confused by what he just heard.

“Excuse-me?” He tumbled.

“I’m Hwang Miyoung. Lady of Rosegarden. Daughter of Hwang Minhyuk.”

“That’s impossible. Lady Hwang Miyoung from Rosegarden is betrothed to House Shin Yunsuk from the Red Mountains.”

“That’s true.”

“If you are Lady Miyoung, you should stand by your husband, not following the son of Kim Minseok around.”

“You are of high rank in the military, so I assume you already know what happened to the Hwangs…”

“Yes, they were brutally killied by a bastard born in a move to shake off the nobility of our land.”

Miyoung scoffed, looking around the room. “I see, you still have the source coming from Shin Yunsuk, I take?” The officer frowned his brows. “Whatever Midsummar is informing you, it’s wrong, sir. There is no rebellion of bastard children to throw the nobility off their perch or anything remotely similar to that. My family was killed by the one and only Shin Yunsuk, the man I was supposed to marry.”

“That’s just nonsense! Why would a husband kill the noble family of his own wife?”

“I see you are unaware of the political games some noble families play to retain their power?”

“Watch your mouth, woman! Killing the family of your own wife is another level of schemery, there is no way such a noble house like Shin from the Red Mountains would betray the greater houses of Joseon in this manner! Stop spreading misinformation!”

Miyoung did not like that he was taking her as a liar. “Oh, you think I’m the one spreading misinformation?”

“You are not gonna fool me, woman! You are not Hwang Miyoung and the commander of Gwangju Forces will not be conned so easily like this!”

“I am Hwang Miyoung!”

“Where’s your identification tag?”

“I don’t have it with me. My husband took it away from me, so people could not believe in what I had to say.”

“Nonsense!”

Miyoung exhaled, a little tired of being confronted like that. Why couldn’t he believe her? Was that only because she was a woman? If Taeyeon was there, telling him the same story, would he believe in him? Would there be any way to show that man that she was speaking the truth?

Miyoung thought for a second and then she got an idea. “Give me a couple of seconds, officer.” And upon saying that she left the cabin, a much confused and shocked commander frowned at her behavior. Took Miyoung a couple of minutes to find what she was looking for, which was kept safe in her satchel amidst her belongings in the room she was sharing with the other girls. When she picked it up, she returned to the commander’s cabin, not even bothering to close the door on her way in.

“Here. Maybe with this, you’ll believe me.”

Commander Kim was unsure of what she was implying, but ended up taking the piece of paper and started reading its text. Taeyeon’s poster of WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE had an artwork of his overall appearance, and a paragraph explaining what his crimes were and why he was wanted by Shin Yunsuk and his men.

“The bastard born from Jeolla’s Province dared to come to the Red Mountains and defy the laws of this region. A fierce dispute took place between Kim Taeyeon and Shin Yunsuk, the Master of this land. Not satisfied with his defeat on the challenge thrown at him, the bastard boy decided to slay the lives of the members of the Hwang Family, bringing sorrow to Shin Yunsuk’s Lady Wife and her people in the north. Shin Yunsuk and the gods of Joseon now proclaim that Kim Taeyeon shall be punished for his crimes and shall be sent to him Dead or Alive.” He finished up reading.

“This is the info you’ve received, wasn’t it? Maybe an even more distorted version coming from Shin Yunsuk himself…” Officer Kim frowned, still not understanding her reasoning.

“I fail to see where there is a lie in this poster?”

Miyoung chuckled. “The bastard born from Jeolla’s Province, Kim Taeyeon.” She repeated. “That is the Kim Taeyeon you’re carrying on this trip. He is the son of Kim Minseok. Do you really think Taeyeon would slay the lives of the members of the Hwang Family? A boy who was raised by such a loyal and integral commander of Joseon’s Military?”

Miyoung knew she was hitting on the right spot when his eyes blinked, obliviously. “Would Kim Taeyeon neglect all his education and integrity to mess up with noble families from the north, a place where he has no connections whatsoever?” He raised his eyes to her. “Would Kim Minseok, your friend and mentor, raise a child so he could overthrow the nobility for some ty lands of sands and rocks in the middle of nowhere?”

When the man didn’t answer her question, Miyoung knew he was taking her words in. “I have no reason to lie to you, sir. Yes, I’m a bit hot-tempered, but I ain’t a liar. Kim Taeyeon, the son of Kim Minseok, is scorting me back to Rosegarden so I can retake my home from the hands of Shin Yunsuk. I’m not following him around. He took a vow to protect me and keep me safe till we can reach Rosegarden. In order for us to reach Rosegarden safely and sound, we need to go through Busan and other provinces on the east coast.”

The older man stood a couple of seconds in silence, re-reading the text of the wanted poster again. “It can be another boy the poster is speaking of.”

“It’s not.”

“Kim Taeyeon is a possibly common name.”

“Look at the drawing! It’s Taeyeon’s face!” Miyoung said, assertively. The officer looked at her again. “He is the one the poster is talking about. And you are carrying him on this trip. Why can’t you believe me, officer Kim?” She asked, trying to soften her voice. “What’s so impossible to you in these events that makes you not believe a word that I say?”

The man did not answer her, he straight up stood up from his seat, and stormed out from his office, Miyoung blinked, feeling something ominous in the air, and decided to follow him, to see where he was going. When he got into Taeyeon’s room, Miyoung wondered if she actually did the right thing.

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