A thin line of sweat beaded Seung's forehead.

"How many years ago?" Seung asked, horizontal ridges furrowing his forehead.

"Maybe three or four years ago. I only remember because of the limp and the scar," Minjae said, rolling a strand of hair around her index finger. "I used to get scared very easily those days. He must have been a guest because I never saw him again."

Seung shook his head. "He could not be a guest. He was a slave. He must have come with his master unless he was sent here to live with someone or allowed to go free."

"He could be a commoner," she reasoned.

Seng shook his head.

"How do you know that for sure?" Minjae asked. "Yangban men seldom come here on visits with their slaves," she said.

"I saw him once in Hanyang. He was wearing a nobi's attire. I should have caught him then," Seung said, sitting beside her again.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Everything had gone black for a moment....it was like I was in a trance..... I don't remember much. I might have been even mauled to death by the horses of the Capital force if a quick-thinking little girl had not saved me." Seung had a troubled look on his face. "What else can you remember? Was he alone? Did he carry something -"

Minjae bit her lip. "I am sorry, I don't remember, it was quite a while ago -"

Of course. Seung felt like an idiot. How would she know about a random man she might have met years ago and vaguely remembered because of a few physical anomalies?

Minjae looked at him, her eyes filled with worry.

"If you ever see him again, what will you do?" Minjae asked.

Seung's face hardenend. "I'll find out why my father had to die and who was behind it. Then I will kill him," he said harshly.

Minjae paled. "Dari! That's illegal. Why endanger your life like that when you can have justice carried through legal means?"

Feeling conflicted, he rubbed his finger and thumb on his temple.

"I won't let you harm yourself like that," she spoke with an unusual emphasis, her eyebrows straight with determination. Her face was pale, and she was focused on rubbing an unidentified spot in her hands.

Seung felt guilty. He had thoughtlessly imposed the burden of his nightmares upon her, compounding it with questions and unsettling her with his revenge talks. Warmed by her protective stance, Seung decided it was time to steer the conversation away from the unpleasant topic.

"I'm sorry. I'm not thinking straight. Forget about it," Seung said.

"Dari, tell me about the girl who saved you," Minjae said. A gentle hand reached to squeeze his clenched one.

A soft smile played on his lips. "I don't know who she is. She was just there at that moment and risked her life to save mine when grown men stood around me doing nothing." Seung paused, considering how much to disclose. It felt like a betrayal to the little girl's memory to speak about her ordeal, so he decided to skip it. "I think of her as my protective spirit. Whenever I have been in danger, I have felt her energy by my side. Wait, there is something I want to show you. It belonged to that girl," Seung said, reaching inside his sleeve. He withdrew a small pouch. He retracted a small bracelet and heard Jay Yi gasp audibly. He looked up to find her staring at the green adornment.

Seung turned the green beads with his fingers. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes," Minjae breathed.

Seung handed it to her. Nestled within the silver framework were vibrant green gemstones. Intricately carved opal leaves sectioned the even number of smooth round beads after precise intervals, reflecting mysterious colours in the steady candlelights around them, creating a breathtaking piece of art.

"It is beautiful. How did you get this?"

"It slipped out of her wrist while trying to save me. I wonder if she ever missed it."

Minjae traced the beads with loving fingers. "Young girls often lose jewellery; she probably did not notice it," she proffered.

Seung shook his head. "Even if she did, she would not know where to look for it. I meant to give it back, but I forgot, and then it was too late. But I do hope to return it one day."

"If she knows how this has helped you, she would not want it back, Dari," Minjai said, handing it back to him. "It's just a trinket. She probably had more of those."

"It never made sense....this is green amethyst, a rare gem coveted by many, but only the rich and powerful can get their hands on it. If she could afford to wear this, then why -" Seung looked lost in thoughts.

Minjae clasped her hands together in her lap. "Don't overthink. You were meant to keep it, Dari."

Seung nodded, putting it back in his sleeve. He picked up the wooden comb and traced its decorative edge with the tip of a finger. "This is unlike anything I've ever seen," he remarked.

"It belonged to my mother. It's the only remembrance I have of her," Minjae explained, her eyes soft.

That explained its presence. It was an heirloom piece, probably passed down from generations. A sudden rush of relief washed away his lingering feelings of melancholy.

"You must look like your mother," Seung said.

Minjae smiled in reply. She gathered her hair and draped it over her left shoulder, creating a black silk curtain against her white night hanbok, exposing the satiny column of her neck to his view. With a deft twist, she looped the lower part of her hair around her hand, securing it in her fist, leaving the ends protruding. Taking the comb from him, she began running it through the ends, gently brushing the knots away.

Fascinated, Seung leaned forward, resting his elbow on his folded thigh. With his chin in his palm, he watched her graceful movements for a ritual she no doubt followed every night before bed. A sense of serene domesticity enveloped him. It was intimate. It was arousing.

Seung straightened.

Minjae's cheeks bloomed red as she grew aware of his intense, warm gaze lingering on her movements, and she stopped. "Please, Dari, don't look at me like that; you are making me conscious."

"I can look at you all night, Kim Minjae," he teased, but his eyes burned bright. A wayward strand had escaped her grip. Seung coiled it gently around his finger. "Do you have any idea what you do to me, Kim Minjae? I should leave before I end up doing a lot more than just looking."

His words sucked her lungs dry. Minjae wasn't sure what she wanted. She knew it was better if he left, but she didn't want the night to end, the magic to fritter away. "Stay for a little while more," she said shyly.

That produced a sudden smile, a flash of white so disarming that her toes curled.

"Are you not the strange one? A while ago, you could not wait to be rid of me," he chuckled. "Can I have some water?"

Minjae nodded.

When she came back, she had a slight frown on her face. She bent to hand him the water bowl and set a pitcher and a plate of ginger biscuits on the table. She picked up the comb to finish what she had started earlier and settled beside him.

Seung bit into one of the cookies, closing his eyes in bliss.

"Can I ask you something?" Minjae asked, the hesitation in her voice loud.

Seung nodded, thirstily washing down the sweet, gooey crumbs in his mouth with the bowl of water, trying not to stare at her lissom movements, which were so graceful that a breath caught at his throat.

"Is your wife pretty?"

That got his attention. He looked at her quizzically and paused. He ran his tongue over his teeth to get every last bit of deliciousness, digging it into crevices to capture the escaped morsels. It suddenly felt foolish to admit he had never even seen the face of the person he had married, although 'average' was how she had been described to him. He evaded. "She was not considered a pretty woman, but even if she was, few could hold a candle to you. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, Kim Minjae," he said matter-of-factly.

"What if -" Minjae swallowed, said, her voice barely audible, "-your wife comes back to you?"

He had not taken into account that Minjae might be insecure about her place in his life. If he had any doubts about her feelings for him, her question dispelled them. Something warm blossomed inside him.

"Then it will be easy for me to take her to His Majesty's court. In any case, I will request His Majesty to grant me a divorce, even though I know he will not agree," Seung said.

Minja looked vaguely startled. "Divorce? No, Dari. We can make it work without that. You just said that you don't care what the world thinks. It will make His Majesty angry. His Majesty has already bestowed his favour on you once; he might punish you for asking it again."

Seung regarded her with confused eyes. "What do you mean he has bestowed a favour on me once?"

Seeing his incomprehension, Minjae explained, "I am saying that His Majesty already granted you a divorce once before, so don't ask again."

Seung blinked at her a few times. "Who told you that?"

Minjae bit back a surprised gasp. Letting go of the hair in her fist, she took her time flipping it back, trying to string her thoughts into coherent expression.

"I thought - I mean, there were rumours you were divorced, but then you told me you have a wife, so I assumed you had married again -" Minjae worried her fingers, wringing them oddly.

Seung chortled, surprised that rumours about his divorce had reached Minjae. Even his closest associates didn't know about his actual marital status, with most thinking he was happily married to his illustrious wife tucked away somewhere. She had a better network than he had assumed. "You think I would allow myself to be fooled twice?"

"So you never divorced your first wife?" She asked slowly.

"My only wife, though she is little more than a name," Seung's mouth twisted. "She is the most selfish, narcissistic, inconsiderate woman I have ever had the misfortune to come across. She refuses to show up for divorce, yet has no intention to honour her vows."

"What do you mean she refuses to show up for divorce?" Minjae asked, confusion clouding her face.

"His Majesty has refused to grant us divorce until she turns up and tells him personally that she would divorce me. I tried many times to either reconcile or settle the divorce. It never made sense to me until I realised that a divorce would not accord her the freedom that a marriage could."

With her mouth agape and eyes wide, Minjay looked on in stunned disbelief. "How is that possible?" She was barely audible. "How could His Majesty do that?"

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Seung carefully set the bowl aside.

"His Majesty vehemently opposes divorce. He would not grant any to most people. It's guaranteed to invite his ire. I am fortunate he never held it against me. In fact, if anything, I believe he pities me," Seung's mouth twisted in disgust. "And she is lucky for being Choi Si-wan's daughter that everyone wants to brush the sordid affair under the rug as if it never happened."

Minjae closed her eyes, still shaking her head as if in disbelief. "Do you hate her?"

"Hate is too strong an emotion to use for her, but I detest her for what she did to our families."

Minjae's eyes were gentle. "Maybe she was too young to know better -"

Seung's laugh was brittle. "She might have been young for my taste, but she wasn't so young that she didn't understand what she was doing. It's been five years now. She had plenty of time and opportunities to make up for her follies. Instead, she chooses to run into the arms of yet another man."

Minjae reached out and gently grasped a hand. "You are within your rights to punish her for being undutiful. No one would fault you for that."

"I might have, but her father and mother begged me to give them time. The divorce has to be carried out quietly. Otherwise, the scandal would hurt her father's political career," Seung said sadly.

"But that's selfish! Pardon my language; I speak about an elder like this, but he cannot ruin your future for his selfish gains."

"My father-in-law is the most powerful minister in Joseon, Minjae. It's not easy to disregard his plea that I wait to present a public petition till his younger daughter is old enough to be sent to the Palace as a royal consort. Besides, deep inside, I had held onto the thought that Choi Ji-na might have a change of heart one day. But from what I learned later, it seems unlikely," Seung said coldly.

"Maybe her father is forcibly stopping your wife from getting the divorce?" Minjae ventured.

"It suited him initially. I do not deny that. But then how is he not able to force her to do the right thing and honour her wedding vows? Seeing how she floutes every rule of moral conduct without a thought to her parents makes me feel sorry for the man. I do not think he controls much of what she does. They might have been able to save face for a while, but internally, they are ruined, too. Her actions have caused them untold pain. They....." Seung stopped, shaking his head. "When I think about how I had tried to find excuses for her behaviour and blamed her parents for everything, I feel so ashamed."

Reaching for the pitcher, he poured water into the bowl and drained it in a gulp. "And she happens to be someone you should be wary of. Why do I feel you are defending her?"

"Because it feels - it feels she still weighs heavily on you, and you have not forgotten her," Minjae said softly.

Seung almost choked. "Don't be ridiculous! If she was a man, I would have struck her dead long ago."

"It's her loss that she lost someone like you with her foolish acts. While her actions were wrong, dwelling on the past won't serve you well either. Please forgive and forget her," Minjae said gently.

"You are too kind, Kim Minjae," Seung said with a tight smile. "I had considered forgiving her once for what she did to me, but I can never overlook how she persists in inflicting suffering on others. And even if I overlooked that, what kind of brother would I be if I forgot the harm she caused my sister with her thoughtless, self-centred behaviour?"

"Your sister?" Minjae asked, a look of shock jerking her face up.

"The blasted woman ran away on the night of our wedding. Unable to believe his paragon of virtue could do such a thing, her father hauled both me and my sister to prison on the charges of harming her."

Minjae went white. "I had no idea -" she clamped her mouth with her hands.

"My sister's prospect of securing a respectable match was ruined forever. She has been very accepting of her fate, but I know how much it hurts her to see her friends and cousins getting married or having children."

"Your sister was innocent. Her records should have been expunged," Minjae remarked, her throat heavy with emotions.

"Yes, they were, right after we were released. Unfortunately, the word was already out in the circles that mattered. No matchmaker worth her salt would consider her for a match to a suitable man. The offers that came were—" Seung swallowed, looking away. "Not even my position has been able to change her circumstances. It has broken my mother. So, I do not have any reason to forgive Choi Jina, ever." His voice was as hard as flint.

Minjae's face crumpled, and she covered her face with her hands.

Seung noticed and immediately drew her hands away from her face. "Minjae -"

A tear dropped at the back of his hand. He groaned, kicking himself mentally. "Minjae! Don't cry," he said, feeling lousy.

Minjae dipped her head, her hair falling over her face, hiding it from him, and shook her head. "I had no idea how much you suffered. I am sorry. I am so sorry."

He shifted to sit beside her on the narrow mattress and held her head to his chest, his arm encircling her. He lifted the soft mass of hair from her face and cupped the cheek, using his thumb to brush away her tears.

"If I knew you would let me hold you like this after listening to my sad story, I would have told it to you months ago," Seung emitted a low chuckle, trying to ease her hurt, hating her tears.

Minjae gave a muffled laugh.

"Your sister must hate her," Minjae said, pulling her hair away from her face and tucking it delicately behind her ear. Her eyes still shone with unshed tears. He had never seen Minjae in such an emotional state. No wonder she had chosen healing as her life's mission. He pulled her closer into his embrace and smiled. "My sister is like a mother hen. She does not care what happens to her, but she goes up in arms at the mere mention of Choi Ji-na or her family for the injustice they meted out to her brother."

"Your sister sounds like a wonderful person," Minjae said.

"She is. She has grown a brassy veneer while I was away in the north, but underneath all that hard shell, she is still that naughty, giggly fifteen-year-old I had left behind."

"I promise to make it up to you for all the suffering you have been through," she said, her eyes brimming with emotion. Without realising it, she reached out to lightly touch the sharp edge of his jaw.

Surprise flickered in his eyes. He sensed a subtle change in Minjae.

He clasped her wrist and turned his mouth into her palm. She gasped as his lips touched the thin, acutely sensitive centre, the coarse texture of his skin around his mouth tingling her all over. She watched the banked fire kindle in his eyes, and her heart began to beat with the thundering rhythm of a boulder rolling down a hill. A wave of sudden desire, new and delicious, came over her.

Seung studied the rapidly climbing colour of her face, the slight widening of her eyes, her chest heaving with laboured attempts at breathing. There was only so much temptation a man could take. Seung drew her to him. She met him halfway as their lips fused in a searing kiss.

Emotionally wrung after pouring out years of bitterness festering in his heart, Seung turned to her hungrily. Restraint flew out of the chamber as Seung plundered her mouth, overcome with a fierce need to feel her, to taste her, to memorise her. She was his refuge. His salve.

Her arms crawled around his neck, her hand resting on his shoulder for support. Seung flattened his palms against her back, arching her into him. She stirred, perhaps with shock, perhaps with pleasure, he didn't know which, as he forayed into her mouth with his tongue. Her unique scent filled every pore in his body. He drank like a thirsty man from her fountain as she softened under him, moulding herself like a putty to his exploring hands. Seung dragged his mouth across her cheek and nibbled at her ear. An incoherent cry escaped from Minjae. He blazed his mouth down the satiny column of her throat, his tongue setting a fiery path of embers that left Minjae's insides in twisted knots of desire she had a hard time comprehending.

Seung's hand slid down her front, his hand shaping a breast that wrenched a sob of shocked pleasure out of her. Desire raced through his blood at the sound, pumping his pulse painfully in his chest.

She felt a tug at the strings of her hanbok, and the shock of that act brought her back with a thud. Seung sensed her withdrawal before he saw her shaking her head. Minjae clutched his fingers with the string still trapped between his thumb and finger, a silent plea to stop.

Cursing himself for letting this get out of hand, Seung raised his head and glanced at the bent head. He had always been in total control of his ardour for a woman, but with Minjae, he felt it slipping rapidly.

He cupped her face tenderly. "I am sorry. I am making a habit of it. I don't think I can stay any longer tonight without breaching boundaries you are not yet ready to cross-"

Minjae shook her head. "It's not that—it's..." she swallowed. "I need to tell you something. I am not...that is..." Her grip on his fingers tightened to the point that her knuckles turned white.

Seung sensed her distress. Concern swiftly replaced passion. "What is it?"

Dark orbs of despair trained themselves somewhere on his throat. "I am flawed. My body is scarred."

His gaze changed from candescent soft to hard black coal. "The bastard left marks on you?"

Minjae closed her eyes, lines of strain making the muscles around her mouth stiff.

"Oh! darling!" Seung enveloped her, and she slumped against him. Seung felt rage burn his eyelids. Her terrorised face in the woods punched him in the gut. His arms tightened. "You are not flawed." He cradled her head within the secure, tight embrace of his arms. "You think a few scars would faze me? I am a soldier. For us, it's a badge of honour, a sign of triumph, of hope and of survival. It reminds us of courage and resilience. So, never ever think of it as anything less. Do you understand?"

She nodded silently into his tunic.

"I hope that bastard is dead. If not, I will find him and kill him for you." Even though he was almost shaking with fury, he gentled his voice, his fingers making tiny soothing circles on her scalp and rocking her gently.

They sat in a comforting embrace until sounds invaded their cocoon of quietness.

"That must be Kim Da Bom, returning from the Inn," Minjae whispered.

"I need to leave," Seung said reluctantly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. She knows about us," Minjae said, her soft tone inviting.

A long finger tipped her chin, incredulous eyes meeting hers. "You told your sister?"

Minjae nodded shyly.

A spurt of joy filled Seung, and he clasped her tightly to his chest. "Thank you for accepting me, Physician Kim," he said in a voice broken with emotion.

She gave a small smile at his formal address.

"Still, I must leave you now. I want to do everything right by you. I will see you tomorrow morning. Promise me you will sleep well tonight?" He gently kissed her forehead.

On his way out, he met Kim Da Bom, who had her five-year-old sleeping soundly in the curve of her arm, his little head nestled cosily in his mother's neck. She gave him a surprised bow, and he accepted her greeting with a respectful nod.

And then he was gone as silently as he had come.

Kim Da Bom met Minjae in the front chamber, placing a lantern on the floor.

"What was that?" Kim Da Bom whispered, transferring her sleeping child to his Aunt's arms.

Minjae locked her arms around the bottom of her nephew's little frame; his tiny, tired legs splayed around each of her hips. She looked around from his head resting on her shoulder. "I took the leap," she said.

"Then why do you look like a thunderbolt struck you?"

"Because I was arrogant to think I was the only one who could have been this miserable and was reminded once more that suffering loves company."

~~~

Lee Seung didn't sleep that night. His thoughts churned, alternating between the joy of requited love and the sorrow of memories he desperately wished to erase from his mind.

You have not forgotten her.

The image of a slim, graceful, white hanbok-covered back haunted him.

"I understand you have come to this room with some anticipation. However, it would behoove you to lower some of those expectations."

Seung closed his eyes. Why, today, of all days, was Choi Ji-na so heavily imprinted in his mind? He didn't even know how the damned woman looked! She was like a shadow that never seemed to leave him, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off.

Seung tightened the straps of his gnat.

Two large lanterns brightened every corner of the chamber. The silver and brown hanbok sat snugly on Seung's impressive frame. Even though it would be a while before the sky shed its inky cover, Seung was restless and decided to get ready early. After a few weeks of gruelling work, the sojourn to the temple with Minjae was a welcome interlude. Her father was due to return to the island in two weeks. Once he had completed the formalities with Minjae's father, Seung would travel to his mother to get her permission and pay respects to his ancestors.

And bring her home. An inadvertent smile broke on his face. How he loved that woman. He loved everything about her - the way her nose crinkled when she laughed, the sheen of sweat on her forehead when she tried to overcome her fear of sitting on a moving animal, her soothing voice when she reassured a sick child, her luminous gaze when desire clouded her eyes. His heart skipped a beat.

"May I come in, My Lord?" His orderly asked from outside of the door.

The man entered with a pot of tea and cups, placing them soundlessly on the table.

Before he left for the day, Seung had some ledgers to review. The orderly poured him a cup of tea and handed it to Seung. The hot sip felt comforting. Holding the ledgers, Seung walked to his seat.

Then it happened.

Seung's grip loosened, and one of the ledgers slipped from his hand, tumbling toward the ground. Reacting instinctively, he reached out to prevent it from falling.

His servant attempted to catch it, but his arm collided with Seung's hand, which was holding the teacup.

The cup crashed to the floor, the delicate porcelain shattering into pieces.

The servant fell to his knees in panic, bemoaning his misstep. Two more servants ran in, brooms and wipes in hand. A cacophony of apologies poured in, punctuated with "pardon me",...."will fetch you a fresh cup",...."bad luck",....."how did this happen"....."this brings misfortune"...

Seung half-heard the quiet cries of his servants around him, his eyes frozen on the shards of glass spread across the floor like a deformed mosaic. His mind pulled out a sudden memory of broken glass, caused by a cup flying out of his mother's hand when she accidentally tripped on the hem of her dress, the fine china dissolving into thousands of little pieces.

"Enough!" Seung roared in a voice that didn't seem to belong to him. "Clean it carefully, and I do not want to hear another word on this," he said in a deathly quiet voice and left the room, trying to clear his head of those images from years ago - the fateful morning of his marriage to Choi Ji-Na.

~~~

Choi Ji Na stood quietly, looking into the mirror, rocking to and fro. She wished she could turn back time and set everything right. If only she had not listened to her brother. If only she dared to tell the truth. If only....

Now, she never could.

"Jina has always loved you, My Lord," she whispered, her eyes dry. She had no more tears to shed.

Lee Seung loved Kim Minjae.

Choi Ji Na could never take her place. She had lost without even having a chance to try.

Her slender fingers traced the features of the reflection before her, the tips gliding softly over the smooth, cold surface.

Minjae had something Jina would never have.

A face.