The following days Taeyeon spent looking for the Sundeok Warrior she met at the temple. It was a little odd to her the reason why she wanted to find him in the first place...

Because he looks like her.

And Taeyeon had the feeling that the resemblance could make her feel connected to something she lost during the journey.

However, he was nowhere to be found.

She even dared to climb the little hill of the temple in different moments of the day in hope of seeing him again, but it had been unsuccessful so far.

It truly felt like she had just seen her own ghost.

When she asked the Baek Family about the order of the Sundeok Warriors, they didn’t know much. All they said was: “It’s a very reclusive special academy. It’s catered to teach combat and warfare developed by Queen Sundeok. It’s very difficult to get into it and it seems like they have their own set of standards to accept individuals in.”

“Only time we see them is during the Autumn Festivals. They make a presentation there every year. But it doesn’t help much as when they perform they use a lot of festive clothing, masks and oil-paint on their faces, so we don’t really know what they look like.” Tae-il, the oldest of the two brothers, spoke up.

“I met one when I went to Sundeok’s temple the other night.” Taeyeon mentioned.

“Did you?”

“Yeah. We shared a brief conversation and I left the temple kinda wishing to know more about them. But I can’t really find traces of them anywhere else.”

“Sundeok Warriors are protected by the estate of Busan.” Yujin mentioned. “They live in a different area of the city in order to not be a distraction for the common folks. You won’t find them in the middle of a crowd, that’s for sure.”

“But don’t they live in a temple or any site of that sort?” Taeyeon asked them. “Can’t common people watch them rehearse for the Autumn Festival?”

“We are not very familiar with their practices.” Dan-i spoke up. “Only time we can watch them is during the festivals. I’m not sure if their base can welcome common folks. I think not. The Hwarangs don’t allow people to enter their site as well.”

“So there isn’t a way to find a Sundeok Warrior just walking casually in the city?” Taeyeon asked, making the family chuckle for her words.

“It’s easier for them to find you than you to find them. Especially because they wear masks all the time and common folks don’t really know what they look like.”

Taeyeon blinked. “What do you mean they wear masks all the time? Isn’t that only when they are performing?”

“Not sure. But I believe that when they leave their base, they wear masks to hide their faces so they can’t be recognized.”

“The one I met at the temple wasn’t wearing any mask.”

The whole family just blinked.

“What?”

“The one I met at the temple wasn’t wearing any mask.” She repeated.

“Yo, man... Did you just see a Sundeok Warrior without a mask?” Tae-il asked him, his voice a little shaken with concern. “People say that if you’ve seen the face of a Sundeok Warrior, it is a sign of bad deeds to come.”

Taeyeon just felt her heart sink in her chest. “I really hope that is just a stupid superstition.” Taeyeon hoped, fully aware of what she might have to face when she gets to Hanyang. And it’s clearly not a good deed. Can’t she just have a break?

“Are they pretty?” Dan-i asked her. “People say Sundeok Warriors are very pretty without their masks...”

Taeyeon thought about the warriors she met, both the man and the woman, and she could tell they were kinda attractive. “Yes. I think they were pretty looking people.”

“Well, let’s just hope your bad luck doesn’t reach us.” Tae-il said, trying to crack a joke, but what he got instead was a little tap from his own mother on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about that, Taeyeon.” Yujin tried to cheer her up. “It’s a stupid convention. It’s just a coincidence that you found a Sundeok Warrior at the temple that night. The warrior probably thought no one would be there and saw no reason to mask its face. Don’t lose your night of sleep for that superstition. When the festival comes, you can watch them perform and see if you can find the warrior you are looking for.”

Taeyeon nodded, feeling a little bit better after Yujin's words. Still, a little tingling sensation was present in her stomach.

She really hoped that meeting with not only one but TWO Sundeok Warriors unmasked wasn’t a decree of an unfortunate fate.

~~*~~

The merchant route was vivid and very crowded, making Taeyeon and Heechul be in awe with the size of that fair. They’ve been to merchant routes before but never to one this big. Not even the ones in Ironstow attracted so many vendors, traders, and buyers.

“Busan is indeed on another level.” Heechul commented, looking around all the stuff available to buy in that place.

“Second biggest province of Joseon… Imagine what Hanyang would look like.” Taeyeon commented, picturing if the capital city would have as many people as Busan.

“Must be the reason why some call it the Sacred City. Must feel like you are in a special place, out of this world…”

“The city of your dreams…” Taeyeon added, thinking if Hanyang would indeed be that awesome of a place. “We are the furthest away from reaching Hanyang but at the same time feels so close.”

“Yeah, weird .”

Taeyeon chuckled. “The mouth of a poet.”

“Shut up.” Heechul chuckled as well.

“You think the Magistrate will accept you with your mouth speaking like that?” Taeyeon teased.

“I bet my entire fortune they don’t shy themselves from swearing.”

“You have no fortune.” Taeyeon replied.

“I will have a fortune!”

“Since when becoming a Maester means having a fortune?”

“Because I will receive titles from the high scholars of the Magistrate! That’s wealth.”

“That’s not wealth. Wealth is having food, gold and a home to call yours and live peacefully with your family.” Taeyeon retorted.

“Titles grant you gold. Gold grants you food. Gold and Food grant you a family.”

“I see.” Taeyeon chuckled.

“I could invite you to dinner once I get a nice house, bastard.”

“And I will say no, bastard.” Heechul laughed as well.

“Will you visit me?” He asked curiously, his voice coming to a more somber tune. “When I get to the Magistrate, will you visit me?”

“Would I even be allowed to enter that place?” Taeyeon asked him.

Heechul stopped for a second. “I don’t really know.”

Taeyeon sighed, feeling that in truth that answer would be a straight up no. Magistrate wouldn’t allow women to enter the place. But she didn’t want to make Heechul feel sad or anything so she purposely made light of the situation. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to see one another when we get there.” She said, making Heechul nod his head. “Scholars and Maesters must have some form of free days where they can leave their sanctuary and enjoy the city.”

“Yeah…” Heechul approved.

“Don’t think too much about this stuff, huh?” Taeyeon came forward. “Let us enjoy our times together till we get there. And once we get there, we’ll sort things out.”

“Yeah, sure. The gods of fortune are always in your favor, so I guess this is just another minor issue.” Heechul joked.

Taeyeon chuckled. “I don’t know how you can call me lucky after everything we’ve been through so far.”

“The fact you are still alive after everything you’ve been through so far is enough to say you’re lucky.”

“I guess so.” Taeyeon smiled, resuming her sight to their vendors around the market.

When her eyes caught a glimpse of a tall man, wearing dark cloth robes and a sword on his back, she stopped walking for a second. “What’s wrong?” Heechul asked her, finding it weird she just stopped moving.

The boy was buying some food and had one bowl on each of his hands. When he turned around, Taeyeon managed to see his profile.

“It’s him.” She said.

“Who?”

“The Sundeok Warrior.”

Heechul frowned, looking at the man Taeyeon was pointing to. “The Sundeok Warrior you met at the temple?”

When Taeyeon started moving to follow the steps of the warrior, Heechul just followed her suit.

~~*~~

“If you want to join me you could just ask, instead of following me in the shadows.” The boy said firmly, making Taeyeon feel a little embarrassed by the way she was following him.

The man just turned around, with both of his hands holding the bowls of soup. “Hello there, my friend.” He spoke up calmly.

Heechul frowned, taking a second or two to even speak. “Friend? Are you that close to him already?” He asked Taeyeon.

The warrior wasn’t wearing any masks, and in daily light, Taeyeon managed to see his facial traits being clearly different from her own.

“Let’s just say we’ve met a couple of times.” Taeyeon spoke up.

“Once.” The warrior replied, smiling.

“Yes, once.”

“He looks like you.” Heechul mentioned, making Taeyeon twist her head a little to the side. “Gives off the same vibes.”

“He is taller than me though.”

“Don’t be jealous of that when you have your face.”

Taeyeon was taken aback by his commentary. He was so straightforward and daunting that his remarks made Taeyeon feel a little shy herself.

“I need to bring this bowl to a friend of mine and I’m afraid I have to leave you. So excuse me.”

“Wait…” Taeyeon called before he could even start walking. “Can I join you? I want to know more about you.”

“I’m afraid you can’t.”

“Please!” Taeyeon insisted. “I promise you I won’t tell anybody about this meeting.”

“What about your friend?” He asked, making Taeyeon look at Heechul.

“He won’t say a word as well.” She assured him. “You can trust us. We come from a different place in Joseon. We are not here to make your lives difficult or anything.”

“Well, ain’t that a relief…” He said, a little sarcastically. The warrior just sighed. “Fine. Just come with me.” He resumed his walking, and Taeyeon and Heechul quickly shifted their pace to follow him.

When they reached their destination, which didn’t take long, the boy put the two bowls of soup on top of the table his friend was sitting at. Taeyeon recognized being the same girl from that night as well. She couldn’t remember her name though.

As the boy just placed the bowls on top of the table, he shook his hands off.

“Was it too hot?” Taeyeon asked.

“Yes.”

“Why you didn’t say so?”

“You didn’t ask.” He said obliviously.

“What? You just need to mention it.”

“Why would I mention that to you?”

“I could’ve helped you.”

“How would that change anything?”

“You wouldn’t have to carry two hot bowls of soup.”

“But that would make me and you carry hot bowls of soup, and that would make both of us have our hands hot. So how does that change anything?”

Taeyeon blinked, not answering that.

“Well, aren’t you going to sit down?” He asked them, taking a place to sit himself.

“Why are they with you?” The girl asked her friend, frowning her brows.

“Rushy boy here wanted to talk. And I had two bowls of hot soup in my hands to keep denying them so I let them come.”

“Byul…”

“It’s fine, Yongsun. They won’t be trouble.” He assured his friend.

Taeyeon really wanted to believe in that as well.

“I really wish you know what you are doing.” His friend complained.

“You know I always know what I’m doing.” He said assertively.

The girl named Yongsun just sighed. She bowed her head towards them and welcomed them to sit at the table.

Taeyeon and Heechul just took a place to sit at that table, Taeyeon just beside Yongsun and Heechul beside the taller warrior.

“So, you decided to stay for the festival?” The girl named Yongsun asked her after a couple of seconds in silence. “You are the one we’ve found at the temple that night, right? The one who was in a hurry to get to Hanyang?”

“Yes.” Taeyeon answered. “I am. My name is Taeyeon. Kim Taeyeon.” She bowed her head to both of them. “From Ironstow, Jeolla’s Province.”

“Jeolla’s Province? Hyejin and Whee-In are from Jeolla’s Province as well! Very good friends of ours~ what a coincidence!” Yongsun smiled.

“This is Heechul, my best friend.” Taeyeon introduced him to the two warriors.

“Kim Yongsun.” The girl introduced herself. “And that is Moonbyul.” She pointed to her taller friend. “From Busan ourselves.”

“Nice to meet you.” Taeyeon said politely once again.

“Did you decide to stay for the Autumn Festival?”

Taeyeon nodded. “Yes. I’m interested in watching you guys perform at the festival.”

“We won’t perform at the festival.” The man called Moonbyul answered. Taeyeon frowned.

“What?”

“We won’t perform at the festival.” He repeated.

“You said The Sundeok Warriors make presentations every year at the Autumn Festival.”

“Ah yes.” Yongsun nodded. “Byul means we won’t perform at the festival. Our squads are not the ones who you’ll be watching when the festival comes around this year.”

“Your squads?” Taeyeon asked, curiously.

The girl lifted her arm a little and Taeyeon managed to see a red band around her upper arm. Just above the band there was a small sigil; on closer inspection, Taeyeon managed to see that the sigil had two small daggers crossed between one another. “I belong to the class representing combat with daggers. It’s the squad number 2 in our Academy.”

“Belong is a sweet word.” The boy chuckled, slurping his soup. “Yongsun is the captain of the squad.”

“Byul is the captain of the Squad number 1, the combat with swords.” Taeyeon turned her eyes to the warrior just beside Heechul, taking notice of the badge on his arm, a simple long sword standing upright diagonally. If he is the captain of that squad, wouldn’t that make him the one of the best swordsmen of the Academy?

“The class making its presentation will be the squad number 5, the combat with fans.” She explained. “We won’t perform at the festival per se, so if you are interested to see us performing, it’s not gonna happen this year.”

“I see.” Taeyeon nodded, understanding.

“Are you disappointed?” The boy asked her, munching a piece of fishcake.

“Not really. I’m interested to see the festivals and its attractions, and if one of them would be an exhibition of Sundeok Warriors performing with fans, so be it. Must be a great sight nonetheless.” Taeyeon finished it, still excited to see the performance.

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