As the Autumn Festival drew near, Miyoung’s anticipation grew with each passing moment. Among the various source of excitement that colored her days leading up to the festivals, none matched the significance of the prospect of meeting Taeyeon once again. 

“What if you don’t meet her, Milady?” Juhyun asked her. 

“Don’t curse me like that, Juhyun.” She replied with a touch of jest.

“Lady Miyoung…” Her handmaiden sighed. “Consider that Leader Taeyeon may have other goals at the moment, your encounter might not be of great interest to her.” 

“How can you say that to my face like this, Juhyun?”

“You slapped her on the face, Milady…” Juhyun reminded her. 

“That is something I intend to apologize for.”

“And you think she’ll accept it?” Sooyoung interjected. “Well, I mean it’s Taeyeon, obviously she will accept it…” She quickly dismissed her own worries. Yuri let out a soft chuckle. “However, I don’t think Seohyun is entirely wrong. If Taeyeon is not that interested in forgiving you, you must be prepared for it.”  

“I’m confident Taeyeon will attend the festivals and that we’ll solve our differences without complications. Once the festival is over, we’ll go to Riversvale together, just like we planned before.” Miyoung asserted confidently. “Taeyeon doesn’t seem to be the type of person to bear grudges.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she really forgave you, does it?” Yuri said it. 

“What do you mean?” Miyoung frowned. 

“Like…let’s say she agrees to stay with us but refuses to even share a moment with you, would you be okay with that?”

Miyoung wrestled with her response.  She knew she had made a mistake. Miyoung owed her life and freedom to Taeyeon. Either Taeyeon was a man or a woman, it didn’t matter. Miyoung was only free to walk into the lands of Joseon due to Taeyeon’s unwavering loyalty. Leaving Taeyeon behind, when Taeyeon offered her safety and companionship, was the most stupid idea Miyoung had in recent memory.

Miyoung was convinced that if they found each other in Busan and had a proper conversation, Taeyeon could forgive her.  Even if they couldn’t recapture their former intimacy like before, simply having Taeyeon by her side was enough for Miyoung. 

“I am.” She answered, resolutely. “I’m okay with that.”

“Are you?” 

“Without a doubt.”

Yuri and Sooyoung lift off their eyebrows, not very convinced. 

Miyoung sighed. “I know what you guys are thinking of.” Miyoung nodded with understanding. “But I’ve grown to see that our friendship with Taeyeon must be bigger than whatever my silly feelings are, and her presence for our group is better than her absence. For many different reasons. And so, even if she chooses to disregard me entirely, I’ll be fine. I’ll be alright just as long as she stays with us.”

The three servants nodded their heads in understanding. 

~~*~~

Miyoung’s impatience swelled by the second, an intense yearning for the chance to see Taeyeon again that she resumed her way back to the seller's stand. Determined to talk with the Baek Family once again to know if Taeyeon somehow had still been in touch with them. 

“I’ve told you before - I have no idea where Taeyeon is or heard about his whereabouts.” Tae-il’s tone carried a gruff edge, slightly irritated that Miyoung was so pushy about Taeyeon. “He is just somewhere else here in Busan, possibly a distant corner of the city. There is nothing much left that we can do to find him.”

“He is the one who will come to us when he is ready.” Dan-i interjected. “So the best course of action is just cultivate patience and wait, missy.”

“I had assumed he would come to your shop supporting your business.” Miyoung sighed. 

“While that thought is heartwarming and it would be really kind of him to do so, he might be busy with other matters. I suggest you wait for the festival to begin - it will provide a more opportune moment for a meeting.” The youngest brother advised it. 

“Busy with other matters? Such as?” Miyoung questioned. 

Tae-il shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Finding some job in town.”

“Why would he need to find a job in town?” 

“Taeyeon was virtually broken when he boarded our ship, little to no money with him. I don’t doubt he found work to support himself in town; the boy surely needed a bit of income.” 

Miyoung was plagued with guilt. She realized that the bulk of Taeyeon’s resources and income were now under her possession - gold, horses and even titles that could bestow comfort and ease upon them. Conversely, Taeyeon was literally devoid of such provisions. That thought perplexed her. How could Taeyeon achieve so much with so little? Miyoung sure wouldn’t be able to survive though that.   

“We both did.” A voice suddenly interjected, and Miyoung saw the members of the Baek Family all smile happily. Miyoung recognized the voice, although it wasn’t the one she had anticipated. Nonetheless, a wave of relief swept over her, for finding him would inch her closer to finding Kim Taeyeon. 

She turned around to meet Heechul but the bastard boy looked vastly different than before. Tall and more robust, his once untamed-hair now lay sleek and cleanly combed, adorned with a musky green headband wrapped around his forehead. His attire too had changed. His pastel robes had layers of fabrics and a cinched waistband keeping them tight and clean, lending him a different air. 

“Heechul?” Miyoung’s brow furrowed, barely recognizing the boy she traveled with for so long. 

“Hello, Lady Miyoung.” He acknowledged with a respectful nod. 

“It’s been a while, man!” One of the boys exclaimed, a sense of joy in his voice. “Can’t believe it they took you in!” 

“We all must have tricks under our sleeves to get what we want.” Heechul replied with a playful glint in his eyes and a cheeky smile on his lips. 

“You look different…” Miyoung observed, blinking, not fully understanding Heechul’s transformation. Whatever happened to him? Those three weeks without touch could really change people so much?

“You look miserable.” He retorted dryly. Miyoung just looked at the floor beneath her shoes. “Guess your trip wasn’t as enjoyable as ours, huh? Got on the wrong boat?” 

“More likely.” Tae-il concurred. “No boat is better than ours.” 

A wry smile tugged at Heechul’s lips as he agreed with his friend, stepping closer to the shop to engage with the family in conversation one more time. “I’m glad to see you guys once again. It’s been a while.” 

“Mother was so proud of you, man! She wept when you left us to have your studies!”

Miyoung was still trying to grasp what was going on. She was aware she had missed a wealth of events during her absence, but nothing was quite familiar to her. Not even Heechul appeared the way she remembered - his demeanor, speech and appearance were rather different. It was like he was born anew into someone else. 

“What…happened to you?” She asked him, confusion evident in her expression.

Heechul’s gaze settled upon her, amused. “A lot of things…” He smiled. “I’m assuming you are looking for Taeyeon…”

“Persistently.” Tae-il added, his annoyance an inch too loud. 

Heechul let out a sigh, his head nodding gently. “Would you like to have some tea with me, Lady Miyoung?” 

Miyoung’s response came in the form of a nod as she was short of words. 

~~*~~

“Did something happen to him?” She asked, referring to Taeyeon. 

Miyoung’s heart skipped a beat, anxious of something unknown when the servant of the bar brought them two mugs of green tea. 

“I sincerely hope not.” 

“You don’t know what Taeyeon is up to?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen one another.” Heechul acknowledged. 

“That doesn’t make sense.” She shook her head in a negative sign. “You were joined at the hips.” 

Heechul just chuckled, understanding her confusion. “A lot of things happened and we needed to part ways…”

Miyoung felt her anxiety growing stronger. “Have you guys had any arguments between you two?” 

“No. Allow me to explain… “ He quickly interjected. “Taeyeon and I are on good terms and we’ll continue our journey to Hanyang.” 

“Understood…”

“However, Taeyeon was in need of some assistance I couldn’t give. He needed to have a time of his own. And I needed mine as well. So we chose to temporarily part ways, each pursuing individual aspirations. We set us apart to fulfill our wishes with the intention to reunite in time for the Autumn Festival.” 

Miyoung nodded as she took ease of her newfound understanding. “Where have you been then?”

“I went my way to stay with the Hwarangs.” Heechul revealed in a composed manner, his voice carrying a calm air. “An ancient institute established by Great Queen Sundeok for men inclined towards the fields of Art and Science.”

Miyoung was rather surprised by that information. Not only she had assumed the Hwarang Academy was long destroyed during wars and invasions, but she thought it was their policy to not accept bastard borns.

“Did they let you in? Weren’t they concerned about their status while you were a bastard-born?” She was amazed that Heechul managed to enter such a traditional academy despite his birth status.

“Not as much as I thought they would. I presented them my parchments and they liked my writing style. Even if it was only in Hangul. Plus, they understood that I couldn’t write Chinese due to my birth class. So they welcomed me on account of my “innate” talent for writing.” 

“You showed them your story?” 

“Taeyeon’s story.” He confirmed with a smile. “And they accepted me under the impression that I employed certain archetypes brilliantly.” He said, amused. 

“Archetypes?”

“They don’t know Taeyeon is a real person. They assumed I was creating an epic folk-tale.” Heechul disclosed. 

“So they believed it was merely a fictional character?”

“Yep, pretty much.” 

“You didn’t tell them the truth?”

“Not really. I thought that if they realized Taeyeon was a close friend of mine, they’d be disappointed with my lack of creativity and expel me from the academy.”

Miyoung chuckled at his commentary, feeling a little warmer on the heart. “I missed you, Heechul.” 

The boy just looked at her, sighing deeply. ”You disappointed me.” 

Miyoung felt her heart just stumble over itself. “I’m sorry.” She offered her apologies sincerely.  

“I had hoped you would stick around. I knew you were hurt, and I knew you had deep feelings for him, but I believed Taeyeon meant more to you than anything else.”

“It was a mistake.” Miyoung shook her head, feeling the hot steam of the tea hit her face. “A foolish mistake. I shouldn’t have left you guys. I shouldn’t have treated Taeyeon the way I did. It was so wrong at so many levels… It took me days to realize how important you guys were to me.” 

“Shouldn’t have taken you that long to realize that after what we’ve been through though.”

“I know.” Miyoung understood his feelings and acknowledged it with a nod. “But it ain't so simple as it may seem. I was hurt and I had my own struggles to deal with. Forcing myself to pretend that I was fine, even when I wasn’t, wouldn’t be genuine.” She started, clarifying her position. “Just like you and Taeyeon needed some time of your own to ease your mind, so I needed mine. Even if that meant to get us apart and take different boats.”

Heechul’s tone wasn’t completely free from remorse. “And now what? What do you want to do? Find him and resume our journey as if nothing happened?” Miyoung noticed his cold tone. 

“In an ideal world, that would be nice, yeah.” She remarked with a touch of irony. “But I’m aware everything is different now; that everyone is different and at a different place. I understand that things won’t be the same as they once were. However, I don’t think that means we shouldn’t trust one another anymore. We all make mistakes and we all deserve second chances. And I believe that finding Taeyeon and having a proper conversation with him represents my second chance.” 

“What if we don’t want you around anymore?” That question made Miyoung lean back surprised with his cold posture. 

“Is that what you really want?” She asked him, gutted for his manner. 

“It’s not about me.”

“Yes, it is.” Miyoung asserted with conviction. “Always has been. You resented me before because you though