Page 5 of Gumiho Kiss (Realm of Eternal Blossoms #1)

The Enemy

O nce Young Master Kang had taken his leave and arrangements had been made for where Mr. Park would stay, Samchon pulled Chin Sun into the jeongjugan next to the kitchen.

“What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking of the family,” she said meekly, hoping he’d hear her earnestness.

Uncle shook his head. “A pretty lie, Chin Sun-ah. If you’d been thinking of the family, you’d have remembered how important this marriage is.

Don’t you want Sang Mi to find a good husband?

And Sang Ook, too—your connection to the Kangs could help him attain a higher position. Much better than a simple interpreter.”

She dropped her head, cheeks blazing with shame. In a low voice, she said, “I thought you liked your job, Samchon.”

“Yeh, but I was very limited in my choices. I want more than that for Sang Ook. For all of you. I thought you understood that when you agreed to this match.”

Chin Sun swallowed, unable to look him in the eye. “Yeh.”

“Then you also understand what it could do to our family if the Kangs change their minds about you. . . .”

He didn’t need to spell out the consequences of a broken engagement. Dishonor. Losing face with the community. And it wouldn’t just be Chin Sun who was affected. All of the Lee family would suffer.

Uncle seemed to take her silence as an answer. He left in a whoosh of yellow robes, but his disappointment lingered in the air like the stench of smoke.

Now she wasn’t just heartless but unfilial as well. Chin Sun gnashed her teeth to keep from crying.

“Unni, are you all right?” Sang Mi’s voice floated through the wall.

Chin Sun rejoined her cousins in the sangbang. She smiled reassuringly at Sang Mi. “Yeh. All is well. Are you ready to go to the market?”

Sang Mi grimaced. “Oh . . . about that . . .” She rubbed at her sleeve. “I actually wanted to do some painting this morning. Would you mind going without me?”

Chin Sun held back a sigh. How would Sang Mi learn to take care of the household if she didn’t watch how Chin Sun did things?

She was about to say as much when she noticed the moisture in her cousin’s eyes. Had something upset her while Chin Sun was talking with Samchon?

There was a crumpled piece of paper in the girl’s hand that hadn’t been there before. Chin Sun glanced at Sang Ook, hoping he might know what was wrong, but the boy was paying more attention to Chin Sun’s new bodyguard than to Sang Mi.

“That would be fine,” she told Sang Mi, giving her cousin a small smile.

The other girl bowed, then left the room at almost a run, disappearing down the corridor that led to her bedroom. How peculiar . . .

Chin Sun swung around to Sang Ook, who was in the midst of reaching for the long sword at Mr. Park’s hip. “Sang Ook-ah!”

The boy froze, then pulled back his wayward hand. “Sorry, Noona.”

“It’s not me you should apologize to.” She jerked her chin toward Mr. Park.

“The young master did nothing wrong, agasshi,” Mr. Park said, lifting his head for the first time since she’d come back into the room. “I was well aware of his intentions.”

“Yet you did nothing to stop him?”

“Is it wrong to be curious?” Mr. Park pulled the hwando from its sheath and laid it flat against his palms. He turned to Sang Ook. “Should you wish to see it, you need only ask.”

The boy’s eyes widened, but he glanced at Chin Sun to make sure it was all right.

She didn’t want to agree, but the hopefulness in her cousin’s eyes was her undoing. “Aigoo, I suppose.”

Sang Ook marveled at the gleaming metal, but when he went to grab the blade, Mr. Park shifted his body away, the movement so swift it was almost fox-like. Sang Ook looked up at him curiously.

“I said you could look, but to place this in the hands of one so young would be irresponsible.” His tone was kind but firm, and Chin Sun got the distinct impression that if she hadn’t interrupted earlier, Mr. Park would have moved before the boy’s fingers had reached the sword.

“But don’t worry, Young Master Lee. Your day will surely come. ”

Sang Ook’s shoulders fell, but he didn’t protest. Instead, he stared up at Mr. Park with unadulterated admiration, as only the young were bold enough to do.

The bodyguard grinned. “In the meantime, your cousin here will look after you, I’m sure.”

Chin Sun’s lips twisted into a ghost of a smile before a thought shattered her composure. An opponent with such quick reflexes might prove difficult to defeat.

Gone was the flicker of respect she’d felt toward the mysterious man her fiancé had entrusted with her safety. At best, he was an obstacle to her plans. At worst, an enemy she might have to kill one day.

Mr. Park’s gaze slid toward her, but Chin Sun refused to meet his eye, focusing instead on Sang Ook. “Dongsaeng, you really should be getting to school.”

The boy gasped, then turned sheepish. “Ah, yeh. I’ll be going, then.” He bowed before scurrying off.

Leaving Chin Sun alone with the man who’d sworn to kill her.

* * *

The boy’s padded footsteps became muffled as soon as the screen door shut behind him, but Hyun Soo’s ears stayed alert. Attacks often came when one was least expecting them, and he was nothing if not prepared.

His mistress didn’t acknowledge him, instead staring in the direction her female cousin had gone as though considering whether or not to follow her.

Finally, Lady Lee turned away and floated into the courtyard with all the grace of a crane.

Hyun Soo followed softly behind her, keeping three steps between them as she entered a separate building he assumed was the kitchen.

“Good morning, agasshi,” the servants greeted, bowing politely.

There were four in total, three women and a man.

Two of the women were much younger than the third, who stood near the hearth with a nervous expression and so many frown lines it looked as if she’d never smiled a day in her life.

The man held a long broom that could be a formidable weapon if wielded properly.

Could he be Gwishin? He looked well-fed and was fairly young, perhaps in his early thirties. Gwishin was known for his ability to easily scale buildings and dodge arrows.

But Kang Dol Sam had told him Gwishin got shot in the arm the other night. . . .

“Everyone, I want you to meet Mr. Park Hyun Soo,” Lady Lee announced. She turned to him with tight lips. “He’ll be staying in the spare room at the servants’ quarters for the foreseeable future. Young Master Kang hired him to be my bodyguard.”

The servants bowed in greeting but didn’t speak, instead eying him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.

“It’s good to meet you.” Hyun Soo bowed in turn.

Lady Lee gestured first to the man, then to the young women. “This is Pyung Ho, and these ladies are Ah In and Ye Seul.” She turned to the older woman. “And this is Na Ri, the most wonderful cook in all of Sokju.”

Na Ri flushed but didn’t contradict the claim. “I trust breakfast was satisfactory?” she asked Lady Lee. Her hands shook with what was probably arthritis.

“Indeed. It was quite excellent,” Lady Lee replied, voice ringing with sincerity. “Thank you all for your efforts. I know it must have taken a long time to put together.”

The older woman beamed with pride, transforming her wrinkled features from off-putting to welcoming. “Yeh, but it was worth it to make your first meal with your betrothed special. He did like it, didn’t he?”

Lady Lee nodded. “He was very complimentary, as is only fitting for someone lucky enough to enjoy your cooking.”

Hyun Soo watched the exchange with puzzlement, wondering at the relationship between the two. It seemed far too intimate for people of such different social standing. Did this servant have some kind of hold over Lady Lee to the point that she felt the need to fawn over her like this?

Movement caught Hyun Soo’s eye. The male servant was sneaking out of the back door. Without hesitation, Hyun Soo marched over and grabbed the man’s arms, digging his fingers in.

The servant lurched back with a yelp.

“What are you doing?!” Lady Lee jumped between them, planting herself in front of the servant like a shield. Her eyes blazed, much as they had when he’d accused her of looking down on Kang Dol Sam’s affection. It was a look that said, Remember your place, or I shall make you remember it.

But no matter how she glared, Hyun Soo had a job to do, one he wouldn’t be swayed from. “What Young Master Kang hired me to do.”

Lady Lee’s brow furrowed. “Young Master Kang told you to . . .” Her mouth formed a small O, then she turned to the servants. “Leave us.”

Once the two of them were alone, she swung back, pinning Hyun Soo with her stormy gaze again. “Regardless of what Young Master Kang said, while you are here, you follow what I tell you. Agreed?”

“Yeh.” He dipped his head, hoping she wouldn’t see through the bald-faced lie. He’d already upset her once today. It would make this assignment much more difficult if she continued to oppose him.

He peeked back up. Some of the fire had faded from Lady Lee’s eyes, but suspicion remained. “Tell me, why did Young Master Kang ask you to frighten my servants?”

“Not frighten,” he corrected, “investigate. I’ve been charged with protecting you at all costs. When Gwishin was sighted at the magistrate’s office, one of the guards shot him in the arm. Your servant was acting suspicious. I needed to eliminate him as a suspect.”

“Pyung Ho is not a suspect. How dare you,” she rebutted, sparks flying once again.

Hyun Soo shook his head in silent frustration. “Everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise.”

“Then why didn’t you do the same to Samchon?”

Hyun Soo’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “You want me to investigate your own uncle?” He almost asked if she had no filial piety, but he restrained himself at the last second.

Lady Lee huffed as though his question were ridiculous. “Of course I don’t, but you said you considered everyone a suspect. If I’m going to trust you to protect me, I need to know your word means something.”

Hyun Soo winced. “I apologize for my word choice, but I assumed you knew I wasn’t including your family.”

“My servants are family. You do not touch them.” She spoke slowly, calmly, but beneath her response lurked an unmistakable threat.

What in the world? He wasn’t the enemy here. Why did she seem so determined to turn him into one?

“Now, I’m about to leave for the market,” Lady Lee continued, “but if you can keep your opinions—and hands—to yourself, you may accompany me.”

Before he could answer, she strode off like a tidal wave returning to sea, unconcerned with the destruction it left behind.

So radically different from the way Dol Sam had described her that Hyun Soo could scarcely believe his friend had been speaking of the same woman.

When Dol Sam had written to request a favor, Hyun Soo had spared no time in traveling to the city of Sokju, not knowing what to expect.

After Dol Sam’s first wife had passed, he hadn’t seemed interested in remarrying.

It was only after a round of drinks that Dol Sam had opened up about his earnest affection for his future bride.

“Lady Lee is a moonbeam, bringing light and happiness to the darkest of nights, with eyes like twin dewdrops on a blade of grass. Her voice is more stirring than the gentle notes of the gayageum when—” Dol Sam broke off at Hyun Soo’s raised eyebrow, then crossed his arms. “What?”

“You always were the poetic one,” Hyun Soo replied with a grin. “If she’s that mesmerizing, aren’t you worried I’ll fall in love with her, too?”

Dol Sam playfully shoved his arm. “If you do, I would not blame you. Just keep your feelings to yourself.”

Hyun Soo scowled at his mistress’s retreating form. How disappointed his friend would be if he found out whom he was truly betrothed to.