Page 11 of Gumiho Kiss
Hyun Soo wasn’t surprised at the man’s apprehension.Most looked down upon merchants since they earned their wealth through trade rather than hard work.But Confucianism called the highborn to display kindness toward those below them, and unlike some yangban, Hyun Soo took his moral responsibilities seriously.
“Ahjussi, why did that officer think you supported Gwishin?”he asked.“Do you happen to know?—”
“We don’t know anything!”Woo Tak covered his face with his free hand while the other merchant scuttled to the farthest corner of his stall.
Hyun Soo’s brow furrowed.“Be more careful in how you talk when the police are around,” he warned, then turned back to his charge.
His stomach dropped.She hadn’t been moving quickly; she should have been just ahead on the road.“Agasshi?”He surveyed the crowd for her pink jeogori and reddish-purple skirt in the sea of white hanbok, but there was no sign of her.Fear shot through him as he hurried into the throng, pushing past peasants with one hand wrapped around his sword hilt.
Lady Lee knew better than to wander off alone with Gwishin still at large.Something must have happened to her.
A vision of her body lying broken and bloody on the street appeared in his thoughts.Dol Sam was counting on him to protect his beloved.He couldn’t fail his friend.
Hyun Soo picked up the pace, earning a few quizzical looks from the locals, but he couldn’t be bothered with propriety right now.Not when every second could be the difference between life and death.
“Leave me be, if you know what’s good for you,” snapped a familiar voice.
Hyun Soo’s heartbeat spiked as he lurched in the direction of Lady Lee’s words.He found himself on a side street dotted with thatched huts.Three men armed with knives surrounded Lady Lee, whom they’d cornered against a house wall.Bandits, by the looks of their dirty white robes.
Hyun Soo kicked the fellow nearest him in the back.The thug went sprawling forward onto his face before the other two could react.Hyun Soo rushed to Lady Lee, unsheathing his hwando while she gaped.
“Are you injured?”He scanned her form, but nothing seemed out of place, aside from the blades clenched in her dainty hands.
“No, I—Watch out!”
Hyun Soo dodged a wildly thrown punch, then grabbed the cutthroat’s arm and swung him away from Lady Lee.The bandit slammed his head into one of the hut’s clay walls and fell to his knees with a loud cry.
Hyun Soo aimed the tip of his sword at the final man still standing.The bandit paled, but he didn’t lower the knife in his trembling fingers.He glanced at his companions, who were slowly rising to their feet.
The three squared off for another round, fists and knives raised, but the fear dancing in their gazes made it clear this was a fight they’d lost their appetites for.
“Those blades are no match for my hwando,” Hyun Soo pointed out.“If you don’t wish to die today—because that’s what will happen if you touch her—I suggest you get out of here.”
The gang looked at each other, then scattered like beetles.If anyone was a parasite in Joseon, it was people like them—stealing from the vulnerable rather than earning an honest living.
Hyun Soo turned to Lady Lee.“Are you all right?”
“Yeh, I’m fine,” she replied, so calmly one might have thought they were discussing the weather.
“Why did those men attack you?”
She rubbed at the jade ring on her forefinger.“They wanted me to hand over my valuables”—her face darkened—“but I refused.”
It was then that Hyun Soo noticed the daggers she’d held before were gone.“What happened to your knives?”
“Knives?”Lady Lee blinked her large, doe-like eyes.“I don’t know what you mean.I never had a knife.”
Hyun Soo frowned.The past few minutes were a bit of a blur, but he was almost certain she’d been wielding multiple daggers in each hand.Perhaps he’d been wrong.
He stared at Lady Lee for a few more seconds, then looked away as a wave of guilt came over him.Knives or not, he definitely hadn’t imagined her dauntless expression when he’d first arrived.No woman should be put in such a perilous position, and certainly not often enough that it hardly phased her.
The fact thathe’dbeen the one who’d allowed her to walk into danger today simply made the knot in his stomach worse.
Hyun Soo dipped his head.“I apologize, agasshi, for failing in my duty.If I’d kept a better eye on you, this never would have happened.”
Lady Lee’s slender brows pulled inward.“It wasn’t your fault.I should have stayed closer to your side.”She spread her fingers over her mouth as though embarrassed.“I’m so glad you found me when you did.If you hadn’t, I don’t know what I would have done.”
When moisture began to gather in the woman’s eyes, Hyun Soo drew back, disoriented by her sudden shift in attitude.She’d been fine a moment ago.Why was she?—
