Page 80 of Gumiho Kiss
The goblin met Chin Sun’s eye in a challenge.No, he wasn’t trying to deceive her.His smirk indicated the exact opposite.He wanted her to know it was him.Hyun Soo and Kang Dol Sam were the ones he wanted to fool.
Chin Sun longed to run him straight through after all he’d done to her, but she kept her anger in check.While the goblin’s deception was likely to prevent any grim reapers from showing up, she could work this in her favor.Pretending to be human meant the goblin would be slower to reveal his powers, thereby giving them a greater chance of making it out of here in one piece.
It rankled her, but she tore her gaze from the goblin and instead turned to Kang Dol Sam.She gave him a mocking bow.“To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Gwishin.”The word passed over Kang Dol Sam’s lips like a curse, his jaw clenched.This wasn’t the young master she’d met four days ago.Gone was the warmth, the affection, the very humanity she was so used to seeing in the man she’d once hoped to marry.In their place lurked a cold, ruthless hatred that looked willing to destroy anything and anyone who got in Dol Sam’s way.
And Gwishin had gotten in the way for too long.
“When I heard a masked man had infiltrated the base, I suspected it was you.”He sneered.“You always have enjoyed ruining my plans.”He unsheathed the hwando at his hip.Triumph flared in his eyes.“But you’re not getting away this time.Tonight, I swear I’m going to kill you.”
“I can’t let you do that, hyung.”Hyun Soo pulled down his mask and moved forward.Time seemed to slow, each of his footsteps pounding in time with the steady thrum of Chin Sun’s heart.His hwando glinted in the moonlight, flecks of blood spattered on the blade.When his eyes found hers, they softened ever so slightly, and he dipped his head in a quick nod.
Kang Dol Sam’s face crumpled, first with disbelief, then with horrified betrayal.“Hyun Soo?You’re here?What ...what are you doing?”His voice was broken, pleading, as though he couldn’t accept the reality in front of him without falling apart.
Hyun Soo positioned himself in front of Chin Sun, weapon raised.His stance was confident, steady, leaving no doubt of his loyalties.Just as he’d once sworn, he was ready to defend her, no matter the cost.
“Gwishin isn’t behind the attack on your base.I am,” Hyun Soo declared.“What you’re doing here is wrong.You must call it off.Find another way to deal with the unrest in Sokju.I’ll help you.”His words, though soaked with regret, also bore a thread of hope, a final attempt to end this before it was too late.
Kang Dol Sam’s upper lip curled back in a snarl.“Why would I accept help from someone without honor?You shame yourself further with such an offer.”He lifted his hwando and swung it at his friend’s head.
Hyun Soo blocked the blow, the two blades slamming together before they pulled away.Hyun Soo made the next move, thrusting his sword at Dol Sam’s exposed stomach.Dol Sam sidestepped, but Hyun Soo struck again, faster this time, then Dol Sam went on the offensive.As the fight continued, the men’s movements changed from hesitant and uncertain to resolute, as if they both realized at the same time that the other wasn’t going to back down.
“I believe you and I have a score of our own to settle,” came an unwelcome voice.
Chin Sun shifted to the right, hwando raised.The goblin hovered at the forest’s edge, several paces from where he’d stood only seconds before.He smirked at her quick intake of breath, relishing the fear she couldn’t conceal fast enough.
Chin Sun dashed over to him, stopping a few steps away.“You’re right,” she agreed.She steeled herself, then sheathed her hwando.“But I want answers, not blood.”
The goblin regarded her warily, his expression unreadable.“I’m not in the business of explaining myself to my prey.”
“Then you will make an exception.”When he started to shake his head, she added, “I am owed that much for my sacrifice.”
His eyes widened in recognition, the echo of his first words to her stretching between them.“Thank you for your sacrifice.”
When the goblin pressed his lips together in a tight grimace, Chin Sun knew she’d swayed him.For despite the animosity between them, he still recognized the value of the life he was taking.
“Ask your questions.”
“First, I want to know what you’re doing here.Did you follow me?”
The goblin sneered.“As much as I want your bead, I have other reasons for being here.Your arrival was simply a happy coincidence.”
Chin Sun’s eyebrows drew together.“Then you’re part of this scheme to take over my city?This”—she gestured to his attire—“wasn’t a ploy to get into the fort unnoticed?You’re truly acting as the army’s commander?”
He widened his stance, chest puffing up with pride.“When it suits me.”
What?Did that mean there was a real Commander Song somewhere and the goblin just impersonated him whenever he felt like it?That sounded like the goblin mischief she’d heard of in stories.
But she doubted he was doing this on a whim.Every move he made felt like a calculated decision, like tiny stitches that would eventually come together to form something magnificent.Or terrible.He’d spoken of a cause before—did taking over Sokju somehow play into it?
“Stop with the riddles.Just tell me what I want to know.”
The monster gave her a knowing look, blue fire flaring in his eyes.“Ah, in that case, I shall answer the question you asked the last time we met, for that is what you wish to know more than anything else.”
“What are you?—”
“The reason your bead is so important, so ...desirable,” he explained.
