Page 27 of Gumiho Kiss (Realm of Eternal Blossoms #1)

“I would have thought my message clear. You are not welcome here any longer,” Father declared when he finally exited his chambers. He stood several paces away on the veranda, but his booming voice easily reached Hyun Soo’s ears where he bowed with his face to the ground.

Hyun Soo didn’t move from his position, but he couldn’t hold back the tears streaming down his face. He’d been kneeling in the family courtyard for hours, unwilling to move until he’d gained an audience.

“And where shall I go? Without you and Mother, without the Park name, I am nothing.”

“You should have thought of that before you betrayed this great nation. If it weren’t for my influence, you’d be behind bars right now.”

Hyun Soo’s head snapped up, eyes locking with his father’s. “I am innocent. Why can’t you believe me?”

Father turned his back on him, and Hyun Soo’s hurt spilled over. “You spoke often of the importance of loyalty, that the bonds of family were stronger than any other,” Hyun Soo said. “Were those just words you could toss aside when things got hard?”

Father whipped around, teeth bared. “An archer has no use for a broken arrow.” He strode down the stairs to Hyun Soo and wrenched his son’s sword from the scabbard, his tiered gauze hat making him appear as tall as a grim reaper.

When Father raised the sword, Hyun Soo stretched his neck forward and shut his eyes, ready to accept his fate. If there was nothing he could do to change Father’s mind, perhaps this was best. If he could restore the Park family name with his death, so be it.

He waited for the sword to fall, but when it did, it stopped short, slicing his braid rather than his skin.

Hyun Soo let out a weak cry, then peered at the sheared hair in confusion. Had Father changed his mind about killing him? Was this mercy?

Minister Park turned his back on him once more, chest heaving. “Just as that is severed, so is our family bond. We are of no relation henceforth.”

The servants had thrown Hyun Soo out shortly after, and Dol Sam found him passed out in a tavern that evening. He would only later realize the finality of his father’s dismissal. The audience Minister Park had granted him that day would be the last gift his father bestowed.

Hyun Soo was eternally grateful he’d had Dol Sam around to bolster his morale in the past few months. . . .

Dol Sam!

Hyun Soo’s hands fell to his sides, panic setting in at the realization that he’d left his friend waiting last night.

He burst out of his room, startling a servant so badly that she dropped her linens.

Muttering an apology, he retrieved the linens and pressed them into her hands before continuing on, not stopping again until he’d reached the Kang residence.

He rapped his knuckles against the gate, smiling when a young man answered. “Please let Kang Dol Sam know his friend Hyun Soo is here.”

“Ah, he’s been expecting you,” the servant replied, and he stepped back to allow him in.

When Hyun Soo arrived at Dol Sam’s quarters, the young lord was writing a letter at his desk, calligraphy brush in hand. He looked up at Hyun Soo, eyes widening with relief. “Hyun Soo, you’re here. I must admit I was worried.”

Hyun Soo bowed and sat down across from him. “I apologize for not meeting you last night, my friend. There was . . . an incident.”

Dol Sam stiffened. “Is Lady Lee injured?”

“No, she’s fine. But while we were en route to the bridge, we came across a group of bandits.

Luckily, an inspector was in the area, so he sent his officers after them.

I was going to come to you, but the bandits attacked a merchant’s house and started a fire.

I couldn’t leave without first doing my part to help. And then Gwishin showed up.”

Dol Sam blinked a few times. “Gwishin was out in the open after what he did to that scholar? He’s even more arrogant than I thought. And he was working with the bandits, you say?”

Hyun Soo shook his head. “No, that’s not it. He had nothing to do with the bandits. He was there to stop them.”

“Stop them? That doesn’t make sense. Are you certain?”

“Yeh. In fact, while I was fighting one, Gwishin jumped in and helped me.”

His friend sucked his teeth. “Now I know you’re making this up. Very funny, Hyun Soo-yah. You almost fooled me.”

“But, hyung, I mean it. Gwishin saved my life.”

Dol Sam held up a finger, anger overtaking his normally cheerful face. “You mean to tell me the best swordsman in Joseon—and the only friend I trust with my most prized possession—had to be rescued by a murderer? Because that sounds an awful lot like you’re telling me you’re incompetent.”

Hyun Soo drew back at the man’s sudden shift in demeanor. “Of course I’m not saying that. I?—”

“When I hired you to serve Lady Lee, I didn’t think I was hiring someone incompetent. If you’re not up for the task of protecting her, say so now, and I’ll gladly give the job to someone else.”

“No, I want the job,” he exclaimed a bit too hastily.

“Good.” Dol Sam nodded once, calming down a bit. “I can’t afford to have anything less than the best for my fiancée. You understand, right?”

Hyun Soo gave him a pinched smile, still rather shaken up by his friend’s outburst. Dol Sam had always been levelheaded; even when he’d been under the assassin’s knife at their first meeting, Dol Sam had barely flinched.

Surely he could be reasoned with.

Hyun Soo tried again. “Hyung, what if the vigilante isn’t the person you think?”

Dol Sam’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? Did you figure out his true identity?”

Hyun Soo dropped his head, unsure how to respond. He didn’t want to drive a wedge between Dol Sam and Lady Lee if she was innocent. But what if she was the vigilante and his friend was about to marry a criminal?

A criminal Hyun Soo just might be falling in love with.

But Hyun Soo’s allegiance had to be to his friend, no matter his feelings for Lady Lee. Dol Sam had been there for him when no one else had. He deserved to know the truth.

Hyun Soo opened his mouth, ready to divulge the vigilante’s identity—until he saw the bloodlust in his friend’s eyes.

He swallowed the words on his tongue. Whatever Dol Sam had against Gwishin, it seemed to go beyond simply protecting Lady Lee. This was something personal, perhaps even irrational.

What would happen if that wrath were directed at Lady Lee?

“No,” Hyun Soo lied, “I’ve just been trying to consider all the possibilities. Gwishin could be anyone, even a member of the police bureau.”

“Nonsense. No one with any sense of morality—even a twisted one like some of the men on the force have—is capable of such heinous crimes.” Dol Sam paused.

“I know I told you before to stop him by any means necessary, but I’ve changed my mind.

If it’s within your power, bring him to me—alive.

Gwishin is the worst thing that’s ever happened to Sokju.

He needs to be made an example of.” His lips peeled back in an unpleasant smile. “And I know just how to do it.”