Sooyeon ran as fast as she could, not able to understand the feeling she was having. Why did she get angry at Yoona, and more importantly, why did her heart experience an unfamiliar pain when Yuri held the girl’s hand? So many questions were running inside the cold girl’s mind, questions she always thought she would have an answer when they came by. Her head was throbbing from all the confusion and it drove her crazy. Sooyeon kept running, trying to leave all her troubles behind, but they were followed her wherever she went. She locked herself inside her room and lied on the bed, suddenly becoming dizzy from all the confusion. Sleep slowly took over the blonde girl, exhausted from too much thinking. Not long after, somebody knocked on the door. Sooyeon ignored it but knocking only got louder. The irritated girl stood up and went to the door, ready to shout at the person outside for disturbing her sleep.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” Sooyeon shouted to the top of her lungs, letting out all her frustration. She rubbed her droopy eyes open and was stunned at who she shouted at. “Y-yuri?” She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw how astonished he was.

“Wow. Just wow.” The young man still could not believe at how he just received a mouthful of the girl’s coldness. “Here I was being the good servant, delivering the custard buns you ‘requested’ and I immediately get a shouting at?” Sooyeon wanted to explain but Yuri would not listen. “You know what, just take them already, I have had enough of you for one day.” He handed over the paper wrapped pastries and went straight to his quarters.

“How can a person be so cold and shout at people all the time?”

“Why am I feeling guilty? I have always treated him that way. What makes now so different from before?”

Instead of lazing around in his room and silently cursing a particular girl, Yuri went out to take a walk in the village. Though taking a light breather everytime he was stressed or feeling rather depressed would always make him feel better, the young man still felt uneasy. Thoughts of the blonde girl lingered around his mind. She had always been very cold and rude towards him but something was different about what happened a while ago. Yuri noticed how shocked Sooyeon was after she shouted at him, and even more so when she saw who it was. He shrugged it off, thinking it was probably a mood swing due to her natural female tendencies. As he walked by the marketplace, he saw Taeyeon coming from the village healer, carrying a box seemingly full of herbal medicine. He ran towards his friend and called him.

“Brother!” Taeyeon looked around to see where the familiar voice was coming from. “Taey—MMMPPHHHMMPPPHH!” He quickly ran to his friend and stopped him from blurting out his name, avoiding the chance of alerting any bounty hunters or clan members that were lurking about. “MMMPPHHH!”

“Yah, yah, yah! Be quiet, brother! Do not just say my name out loud or we will be in a great deal of trouble!” He let go of his bestfriend’s mouth. “People here know me by ‘Taeng.’ It would be best if you call me that as well.” Yuri nodded and agreed. “What brings you out of the Jung family mansion? Lord Jung’s daughter giving you trouble again?”

“Ah, please, do not remind me further of that self-centered brat.” Yuri still could not help but think about why Sooyeon acted the way she did.  “Just this morning I was about to give her the item she demanded me to buy and after knocking at her door, she lashed out at me.”

“Seems to be that time of the month again, if you get what I mean.” Taeyeon tapped his friend’s shoulder reassuringly.” Do not worry, brother, it will pass by sooner than you think. You just need a little more patience.” The older male suddenly remembered about the current happenings in their village. “Ah, almost forgot to ask. How are things back in the village?”

“True, I speculated as much. About that, the village is getting worse by the day. Siwon and his lackeys keep on abusing the laborers to do extra work.” Taeyeon became furious upon hearing the news. “The headmaster questions his motives but he uses the increase in quality of goods as an excuse.” Taeyeon felt weak and useless. His clan members, the closest to a family for him were being treated like animals and he could not do a thing about it.

“Quality of goods my behind. He is doing it because he wants to gain more power and up to the other feudal lords with produce and weaponry will certainly do that.” A sigh of disappointment was all that the young man could give away. He then remembered that there was something in the village that could help in the least bit, for him and the villagers. “I need your help on something, Yuri.”

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