A/N: As promised, here is the second chp for the day! I hope you guys enjoy it! Please leave comments or reviews on the your thoughts of how the story is going along!
“Pffft….AHAHAHAHA!”
Inside of Uncle Ray’s personal office in the Millennium Inn, Chang was bent over and holding his stomach while laughing to his heart’s content. Beside him, Seol Hwa at first showed shock before her expression changed into a look of amusement. In the main chair, Uncle Ray looked at the scene in front of him with a face that showed he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The reason that everyone was like that was because in the middle of the office, were Dal, Geum, and the tied up Yong Hwa. As he saw Chang’s behavior, Yong Hwa stared daggers at him before he hesitatingly looked toward Seol Hwa. When he saw her amused expression, his head drooped in depression before he angrily glared at Dal.
Dal, on the other hand, pretended as though she didn’t notice his angry glare. She just glanced at everyone in the room with a charming smile. Uncle Ray, on the other hand, put his head in his hands helplessly for a moment before he looked up and spoke.
“Dal ah, you sure don’t change. Always making a grand entrance. Still, this one sure beats all the previous ones. You mind telling this uncle of yours what the current situation is?”
“Ehehe. Uncle Ray, it sure has been a while. How come everytime I see you, your belly seems to be getting rounder? You need to train more! Anyways, I met this suspicious person on the road. When he mentioned that he knew you, I brought him here. Still, since dad told me not to trust suspicious people, I decided to tie him up so he wouldn’t have any weird ideas.”
“AHAHAHA! WEIRD PERSON! SHE SAID YONG HWA’S A WEIRD PERSON! AHAHAHA!”
When Chang heard Dal’s explanation, he bursted out even more loudly in laughter. Even worse, he actually fell off his seat and rolled on the floor while holding his belly. Yong Hwa, on the other hand, felt as though he would die from embarrassment. If looks could kill, he would’ve killed both Chang and Dal numerous times already.
Uncle Ray, on the other hand, just shook his head helplessly. Knowing Dal’s personality, he could basically picture what really happened. After he released a sigh, he looked toward Seol Hwa and spoke.
“Haa… Seol Hwa, take those two knuckleheads out of here and guide them to their rooms. I have some things to talk about with Dal here.”
“Alright, dad”
After Seol Hwa took both the pathetic Yong Hwa and hysterically laughing Chang out, Uncle Ray once again turned toward Dal and smiled.
“Haa, all things aside, how come every time I see you, you become even more beautiful Dal?”
“Ehehe. Why thank you for the compliment, Uncle Ray. Still the same smooth talker as always, huh?”
“This brat, even speaking like an adult now. Anyways, how’s your father doing? I got his message that you two would be coming yesterday.”
“Father is doing well. He wished for me to relay to you that he would be arriving here in a week. He said he has some important things to speak with you about.”
“Ho, is that so? Still, i’m looking forward to meeting that ol scrooge and having a few drinks with him. It’s been too long.”
“I’m sure he’s looking very much forward to it also, Uncle Ray.”
“Anyways, you and Geum must be exhausted. I’ll have some people come over and take both of you to your rooms.”
“Thank you very much,”
Afterwards, Uncle Ray sent for two servants to guide the two of them to their rooms. Once both of them left, his smiling expression disappeared and was replaced by one that was serious. After sitting at his desk for a while, he wrote a message and tied it to the leg of his personal hawk, Shook. On the envelope that contained the message, was a black image of a crow that had three legs. As Shook took off, he stared out the window and watched it fly away into the moon.
-----
“Ahahaha, I’m never forgetting today. That was the most hilarious scene I’ve ever seen in my life! I never thought I’d see the day where the almighty Yong Hwa would be dragged somewhere tied up in ropes. AHAHAHA”
“Damn it, Chang! If you say one more word about this incident I swear I’m going to tell Grandpa Shin about that time you peeked on those females at the hot springs last year!”
When Chang heard Yong Hwa’s threat, he immediately stopped his outburst of laughter and looked at Yong Hwa with a panicked smile.
“Yong Hwa, best buddy. You wouldn’t stoop so low, right?”
“Hmph, see whether I do or don’t if you say one more word about today.”
“Ca-calm down bro. I was just joking so please don’t tell grandpa! You know he’ll kill me!”
As the two were bickering, Seol Hwa sat to the side and watched the scene with warm eyes. It had been too long since they last met and she missed that kind of environment. Within the Samjoko, Yong Hwa and Chang were the only people who were around her age, so the three of them hung out a lot and got along very well. After letting the conversation go on for a little longer, she finally entered the conversation.
“Alright you two, it’s time to stop acting like children. Let’s talk about what happened after the three of us split up. I’ll go first. While I ran away, i got caught by the group of martial artists that chased me. While I was desperately fending them off, Geum came and helped me eliminate them. Afterwards Geum left and I returned to the Inn to inform him about what happened. What about you, Chang?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I was the one who drew the short straw of the stick. No one came to help me out, but I was able to kill all of them one way or another. Only reason it took me longer to get to the inn than you, Seol Hwa, was because I had to take care of them myself. Anyways, I’m more curious about what happened to you, Yong Hwa. How’d you end up in that situation?”
While Yong Hwa listened to what happened to the other two, he nodded his head. When it was his turn to explain though, he slightly ruffled his hair before embarrassingly explained what happened.
“About the same as you two. While I was fighting those martial artists off though, I...uh….got drugged.”
When Yong Hwa said he got drugged, both Seol Hwa and Chang looked at him strangely. After a few minutes, Chang’s shoulders began to shake as he suppressed his laughter inside of him.
“Oh man, Yong Hwa. If grandpa heard about this….”
Seeing his behavior and hearing what he said, Yong Hwa’s face turned red from embarrassment.
“Oi, don’t you dare tell grandpa Shin! Don’t think that the hot spring event is the only thing I can tell him…”
Chang’s face paled at Yong Hwa’s threat. Once again with a shaking face, he smiled toward him.
“My-my man Yong Hwa, you know I was just jesting. Continue with your story. What happened afterwards?”
Seeing Chang’s expression, Yong Hwa became content and continued with his explanation.
“After I got drugged, that girl Dal appeared and helped me escape from them. After I regained my consciousness, we both came to the Inn with that guy Geum. That’s about it.”
Just as Chang was about to ask him about how he ended up being tied up, Yong Hwa glared at him. Smiling bitterly, he shut his mouth with the question stuck in his throat. After he confirmed that Chang wasn’t going to ask, he turned around to Seol Hwa and asked her a question.
“Seol Hwa, it seemed as though Uncle Ray knew those two. Just who are they?”
“Dal is the daughter of the Crescent Moon Sword clan leader. Her father and mine are long time sworn brothers. He comes by every once in awhile for a few nights to share drinks and talk with dad. Geum is Dal’s personal warrior and is rumored to be the strongest swordsman in the clan after the clan leader.”
“Long time sworn brothers… does that mean..”
“Yeah, you guessed right, Yong Hwa. The Crescent Moon Sword’s clan leader used to be a member of the Samjoko before he retired so that he could take over the position of clan leader.”
“*whistles* Bro, you’re so lucky. Not only is the chick that saved you hot, she’s also the daughter of the Crescent Moon Sword’s clan leader. Man, why can’t I be so lucky with chicks...Ouch! What was that for Seol Hwa?!”
As Chang was speaking, a fist descended onto his head from Seol Hwa. Just as he was about to complain about it more, he turned to see Seol Hwa’s fake smile. After shivering for a moment, he decided that it’d be safer for him to remain silent. When Seol Hwa saw his tamed behavior, she nodded her head and spoke.
“Anyways, now that you two know who Dal is, you shouldn’t bother her. It’s late now, you two should go to your rooms and rest. I’ll show you both around Saewol tomorrow.”
-----
“Haa, it sure does feel good after taking a bath.”
Late in the night, Yong Hwa walked out the bath house. After all that happened that night, he felt as though he needed to calm down and relax so even though it was late he decided to take a bath before going to bed. Just as he walking back, he saw a familiar figure walking in the opposite direction of him. Seeing her back figure, Yong Hwa’s eyes narrowed.
“That damn Dal, how dare you make a fool out of me earlier. It seems that it’s time to pay it back to you!”
While he said those words softly under his breath, Yong Hwa began to trail Dal secretly. As they walked forward for a little while, he saw her go into a empty courtyard. Silently rushing off to one of the nearby buildings, he stood in it’s shadow as he watched her.
From his location, he was able to clearly see everything in the courtyard. As he watched Dal stop in the middle of the courtyard, he patiently waited to see what she would do next. For two minutes, she just stayed still there. Just as he wondering what in the world she was doing, a rapier materialized in her right hand. Right as the weapon completed materializing, Yong Hwa watched in amazement as she began to move.
Under the bright moonlight from above, her movements appeared ever so graceful, enough to make Yong Hwa wonder whether she was a fairy instead of a human. Each movement seemed to blend perfectly into the surrounding, making it seem as though it had always belonged there.
Every time she jumped into the air, he could’ve sworn that he saw wind spirits rush under herbody to caress her and ensure she landed softly. Every time she struck out with her rapier, it seemed every so gentle and light, but caused the cherry blossom leaves that had scattered onto the floor to lightly fly up around her. The leaves that flew up never touched back to the ground and condensed around her figure as she moved. A couple of minutes into her practice, the cherry blossom leaves swerved around her, looking as though they were dancing with her.
As Yong Hwa saw this scene, all previous thoughts of revenge dissipated as he appreciatively gazed at the fairy under the moonlight.