One Step Forward, Two To Leap

The Inn

A fly buzzed a lazy figure of eight in front of her eyes. The annoyance reminded her of the letters Hwan kept sending. Each outreach only stoked her anger further, and she would submerge herself in physical labour to drive away the insane urge to kill someone. As if to belabour the point, Jay Yi's muscles grumbled in protest, aching from all the polishing the house and its floor received from her in the last week. 

What was worse, somewhere in the deep recess of her heart, a treacherous vein waited for them. It made her want to stomp at something. Her head could be a good starting point, she thought sourly. She was loathe to admit that as days passed, it was getting harder and harder to recall the fist-in-the-stomach anger she initially felt. Swatting the fly away in irritation, she absentmindedly circled the spoon in her bowl of the soybean meat soup everyone seemed to be digging in with so much enthusiasm.

"Master Min, what do you think of brother Kim's water clock?" Ban Rye, Kim Myung Jin's young cousin, seemed to have taken a liking to her, always interested in what she thought about whatever he was helping Myung Jin with. He thought she was, as Master Min, closer to his age, which was not untrue, and it gave him the confidence to speak with her more freely. 

All of twenty years, the child had a perpetual eager look in his eyes and a sad droop to his shoulders. Ban Rye's woes stemmed from being unable to get married despite being engaged for five years due to the marriage ban. Apparently, Myung Jin's aunt, Ban Rye's mother, the only family member who thought Myung Jin was a genius and not the failure the rest of the family had declared him to be, had sent her son to him so Ban Rye could be effectively occupied, much to Myung Jin's never-ending glee. 

"I still need to take a look at the latest revisions. Last I saw, it seemed quite impressive. I am certain His Majesty shall be duly impressed," Jay Yi replied gently.

"Brother Kim thinks so, too! He plans to take it to His Majesty on the Science day six months from now."

Hwan had recently declared an open day in the Palace for all citizens to bring their scientific creations and share them with the Court.

"His Majesty seems remarkably progressive in his thinking about science," Mun Jeon sounded genuinely surprised. 

"Hey, I told you many times, he is very scientifically inclined. I plan to appeal to him for a grant," Myung Jin turned on his full charm with a blazing smile.

"His Majesty has always valued you, Master Kim," Jay Yi said softly. "I am sure you will receive it even if you were to apply for it before the Public Science Day." 

Mun Jeon gave a derisive laugh. "His Majesty should have already done more for Master Kim, for solving the poison arrow case for His Majesty that hurt his arm."

Myung Jin shifted uneasily. People were unaware that Hwan had bought Manyeodang for Myung Jin and gifted it to him so he could continue his discoveries unimpeded, along with funding him from his personal account for his new projects. Hwan had forbidden him to share it.

"As his subject, Master Kim had a responsibility to His Majesty; not everything must be a barter!" Jay Yi responded irritably. 

"Ah! Master Min, there you go again!" Mun Jeon derided her.

Jay Yi made a great show of chomping at the rice cake, ignoring him while Myung Jin piled wine in Mun Jeon's cup to distract him.

"I wish His Majesty would marry soon as well," Ban Rye sighed as if all the weight of Joseon's unmarried souls sat on him.

"I am sure he will soon find the unlucky woman," Mun Jeon patted Ban Rye. 

 She reminded herself she was cross at Hwan and did not always need to come to his defence, so why did she always jump to it? Or, why, whenever the topic of his marriage came up, did her stomach drop - 

A familiar prickly sensation brushed the back of her neck, a distinctive feeling of a burning gaze. Her heart somersaulted. She stiffened, refusing to look up or ascertain if her suspicions were true.

Myung Jin's wide grin confirmed her fears. 

Arms open wide, Myung Jin jumped up, his usual shrieks of ecstasy filling the air as he ran around the table towards someone who had come to stand behind her. "Scholar Park!" 

Beside her, Ga-ram sprang to her feet, fumbling her greetings, bowing excessively.

Jay Yi's first instinct was to flee. She didn't like the chaos butterflies created in her stomach as she reluctantly stood up and faced him. As if he had read her mind, Hwan stood directly in her way, blocking her exit . 

At Manyeodang, she could have escaped with an excuse. At the Inn, Hwan knew she could not leave without raising awkward, unanswerable questions. 

Bastard!

She squared her shoulders and raised her chin. Wrong move. Her insides emptied themselves of whatever air they had, forcing her to draw a desperate breath like a fish out of water.

He was beautiful. His miles-long wide shoulders were encased in a cream hanbok self-patterned in gold, the matching gold belt cinching his perfectly proportioned waist. The white buttery silk lent him an ethereal look in the lanterns' warm lights, welcoming dusk's reflective glow; the muted, burnished rust sleeves accentuated his lean, muscular build. The beads of his hat danced gently around his flawless face, onyx, red, orange. He towered over her, his hands locked behind his back. His incredible eyes were fixed on her, unwavering, soft, beseeching.

She quickly lowered her lashes while all the blood she had in her body pooled in her cheeks. Fighting to regain some control over her careening senses, Jay Yi quickly bowed to acknowledge his presence. 

"It's been a while, Master Min. I hope you are doing well." Hwan stated, his voice laced with an underlying tenor of tenderness aimed only at her ears. She nodded automatically, the din in her head unable to distinguish between the drumming of her heart and the masculine exchanges of pleasantries floating around her.

"Heard so much about you...." - excited.

"Come sit.." - inviting.

"I never thought we would ever receive your esteemed company.." - sarcastic.

She caught Ga-ram trying to scramble over to Myung Jin's side from the corner of her eye, vacating the spot beside Jay Yi that she assumed Hwan would occupy as he always did.

Desperately grabbing onto Ga-ram's sleeves, Jay Yi held her back, warning her not to move. Ga-ram's eyes popped in confusion and alarm. Thankfully, Ga-ram's unquestioning loyalty prevented her from questioning Jay Yi.

The seating around the table rearranged itself to accommodate their illustrious guest. Jay Yi found herself sitting directly across Hwan, while Mun Jeon sat on her left, occupying the narrower part of the table between Hwan and her. The ever-eager Ban Rye was relegated to the table's far side across from Mun Jeon, beside Myung Jin and a flummoxed Ga-ram.

Jay Yi narrowed her eyes at Myung Jin and Ga-ram. Was this staged? She had been surprised by the insistence of Myung Jin to join them for a meal at the Inn so he could discuss something important. That something 'important' had yet to materialise. Myung Jin looked happy as a lark and returned her gaze guilelessly. Ga-ram looked her usual flustered self around Hwan. There was no way to know.

A few additional utensils and a fresh round of drinks later, the conversation around the table settled into mundane discussions, each person adding flavour to the topics. After initial hesitation, Ga-ram opened up, too. 

The banter around her loosened Jay Yi's stiffness, though she studiously avoided Hwan's often penetrating gaze while being extra attentive to Mun Jeon, much to his delight. 

Oddly, Hwan did not seem to mind.

Jay Yi could sense a bit of rivalry between Hwan and Mun Jeon. Hwan was naturally competitive, so that did not surprise her. But the absence of outright hostility that she had expected from both of them was baffling. She stole a glance at Hwan while he was busy explaining the merits of developing a rain gauge to Ban Rye. He seemed so at home with all of them. 

I miss him.

The thought seared her mind unbidden, and she quickly turned away to gulp at her drink, berating herself for being all kinds of fool. 

"Did you find anything new about the cases on the little girls?" Hwan asked Myung Jin conversationally. 

"It's still baffling. There seems to be no connection. The cases are spread far apart, unrelated, with no timeline. If it was an epidemic, we should have seen clusters. The deaths started in the villages outside of Hanyang in poor, peasant families, but the recent cases are from affluent families inside the city." Myung Jin shook his head in confusion.

"Do you have any thoughts on them, Master Min?" Hwan asked her directly. 

Jay Yi's head snapped up. This was not Hwan asking her; it was King Yi Hwan's voice, their in-disguise monarch's gaze on her open and direct. There was nothing emotional there. Hwan was genuinely interested in what she had to say. 

Jay Yi immediately felt her tensed-up muscles relax. It was a zone where she did not have to feel, just think and respond.

"I find the pattern interesting," she returned his gaze, frank and honest. "What if we are looking at the wrong source for the cause?" In the last two months, while she had locked herself in at her villa to lick her wounds in isolation, she had directed much of her pent-up energy mapping the case. 

"What do you mean?' Hwan asked, keeping his spoon down as he leaned slightly forward. She could see his brilliant mind coming alive, its cogs churning with curiosity.

"I have heard a child can develop a lot of ailments depending on what is fed to the mother during pregnancy. Certain foods can cause miscarriage, too. What if the mothers ate something that caused the children to be born with heart defects?"

"That is certainly an interesting theory!" Master Kim chipped in. "I did not think of that."

"But why only female children?" Ga-ram asked.

"I am not sure," Jay Yi pursed her lips, "but it could be related to the anatomical difference between a male and a female unborn child."

Ban Rye spoke up, too, "You mean to say the female children are affected more than the males, or maybe they could be the only ones affected?"

Myung Jin nodded. "That can be a possibility. The female child's heart is smaller than a male child's, so whatever the mothers ate could have affected them disproportionately. It is entirely possible there might have been a male child's death, too, but it might not have been reported and not enough cases to cause alarm. But what could it be? I have little experience with the foods pregnant women can and cannot eat."

"If it was caused by commonly occurring local food, we would have heard of many more cases," Hwan added thoughtfully. Jay Yi nodded her assent.

"During my travel," Mun Jeon chimed in, his voice reflective, "I used to frequent a village famous for medicinal herbs. I heard about herbs that many traders avoided because they caused unintentional damage to unborn babies, even though they had other medicinal uses."

"You mean it could be a herb?" Hwan turned to Mun Jeon.

"It's a possibility," Mun Jeon replied. 

"If so, such herbs would not be widely available. Poor families cannot access them from medicinal stores because the cost would be prohibitive. And even if they could afford it, no physician would give a herb to a pregnant mother, knowing it could be harmful." Hwan mulled over it. 

"So then it is not a herb?" Ban Rye asked.

"We cannot discount it. Looking into the history of the mothers might be a good place to start," Jay Yi said, looking at Hwan. 

Hwan nodded.

A lilting female voice cutting across the Inn abruptly curtailed all further discussions, "Master Mun! What a surprise!"

A young woman glided in to stand next to Jay Yi, peering into Mun Jeon, a hand lightly brushing his shoulder. Jay Yi jumped at the inappropriate display of familiarity.

"Lady Kang! How are you here?" Mun Jeon's face broke into a wide smile.

"Master Mun! I have not seen you for so long! Do you not miss my poetry, my Lord?" 

Mun Jeon smiled in reply. 'Lady Kang' was dressed elegantly in ash grey, well-fitted hanbok with a red silk skirt. Her porcelain features with large double-lidded expressive eyes, a small pert upturned nose and a bow-shaped mouth were almost as perfect as a sculpture's.

The woman quickly turned her attention to Myung Jin, studying something intently in his soup bowl.

"Ah! I see Master Kim, too. We have not had a dead body for him to study for so long," exposing her pearly teeth, the woman laughed, which sounded more like the humming of a musical instrument. 

Myung Jin looked up and clasped his hand, "I am always waiting for such exciting news, my lady."

"Oh, Master Kim, you should also visit people when they are alive!" The woman teased. 

"Hain! Why? Why should he visit you when there is no dead body?" Ga-ram interrupted with all the grace of a bull in a china shop. 

The woman squinted at her, "so he can know about a heart when it is still beating. He spends too much time with non-living beings." The woman smiled at Ga-ram mockingly. Ga-ram nodded at her, uncertain, her brows crossed over her eyes, her innocent brain unable to decipher a slight even if it was written in bold letters. Jay Yi's mouth tightened.

Jay Yi had met a few Kiseangs during her tenure as an Eunuch in the Palace, especially during social events held for the Palace workers, the Ministries, and one foreign delegation visit that she had witnessed, but neither Hwan nor the former King entertained any of them in their Palaces, so she did not know them personally. The ones she had met were remarkably intelligent, incredibly gifted in their art, carried themselves with grace, and were sweet . This one, Jay Yi decided, despite her exceptional looks, elegant way of speaking and obvious intelligence, was not.

"Oh, and who is this here, my Lord?" the woman coasted over to Hwan's side. It felt like she was floating when she walked, unlike Jay Yi, who had been pulled up by her mother uncounted times for walking too fast or too slow and always too loud. Jay Yi shuffled when she walked. Well, Hwan, too, had noticed it, had he not? Jay Yi grimaced.

The woman was now standing very close to Hwan, who sighed and stood up to give himself some space from the woman who clearly did not seem to know personal boundaries.

The lights from the glowing lanterns around them bounced off Hwan's perfect features; his penetrating eyes, even when disinterested, captivating. Lady Kang's gasp was audible for the entire Inn to hear.

"Oh! My! You cannot be from around here! I do not believe Hanayang could have hidden a man as handsome as you. Or should I say, beautiful as you!" Lady Kang, who didn't seem as composed any more, cooed. 

Hwan bowed. "Scholar Park from Namsan village, my lady." 

The unabashed adoration in Lady Kang's eyes peeled Jay Yi's eyes. Fuming, she stabbed at the rice cake she had relished minutes ago. 

"Where have you been hiding your friend, Master Mun?" the woman's voice was getting more musical by the minute.

Mun Jeon scoffed. 

Everyone at the table squirmed at the inappropriate direction the evening had taken. Myung Jin was visibly fidgeting. Ga-ram poked at her, alarmed. Jay Yi looked around, and her sight immediately caught Tae Kang, two tables down, coiled like a panther, his eyes on the woman interacting with Hwan. She counted three more similar figures, one on the table next to them. 

The woman did not seem like a threat, at least not the assassin kind. Rather, she reminded Jay Yi of an animal who had sniffed delicious prey.

Hwan seemed utterly unruffled. Having grown up surrounded by Court ladies who were technically at his service for his every need, Hwan was accustomed to female attention and remained unfazed by their admiration. Jay Yi almost felt evil, chuckling to herself, enjoying that the woman did not even realise she was dealing with a man who had grown up believing the world revolved around him and, unlike other men, flattery held little sway over him.

"You must bring Scholar Park to Secret Reservoir, Master Mun!"

"I thought you did not entertain anyone unless they passed your test of solving your riddle, Lady Kang!" Mun Jeon retorted dryly.

"Oh! I can make an exception for Scholar Park," the woman said coyly. "I am sure a scholar like him will greatly enjoy my poetry." She stepped closer to Hwan, who instinctively leaned back but did not step away.

"I regret to disappoint you, my lady, but you will find my knowledge and appreciation of poetry quite lacking," Hwan lied glibly. A giggle escaped Jay Yi involuntarily, attracting Hwan's annoyed side-eye. The man wrote beautiful poetry and could recite them for hours. She should know. She had fallen asleep during one such session, much to Hwan's chagrin.

"Scholar Park, you surely do not mean that. Pray, do not wash me away so." Then, in a surprisingly melodious, sing-song voice, she continued, "If you wash me, I will only get muddier. If you do not, I sparkle!"

Hwan chuckled. "Are you water, my lady? If so, I have no wish to contain you." Hwan tilted his head forward in a slight bow.

A dainty hand flew to the woman's mouth in genuine surprise. "Why, Master Mun, the beautiful man solved my riddle even without realising it was one! Scholar Park, you must come to Secret Reservoir. You will find great company." Lady Kang stepped closer and reached out to touch Hwan.

Hwan did not like being touched. The woman was quick. Hwan was quicker. He reflexively blocked her wrist before it could touch him and held it away before releasing it in a motion so swift that it took the woman a moment to register it. Her eyes widened in shock. Obviously, the woman was used to men falling at her feet and had never been so humiliatingly rejected. 

Jay Yi had enough. Before she could stop herself, she was out of her seat. She inserted herself between Hwan and Lady Kang, and Hwan happily stepped back to make space for her. 

"Lady Kang, I do not believe I have made acquaintance with such a great beauty either," summoning the deepest tenor of her voice, Jay Yi presented the woman with her most dazzling smile. 

The woman, totally nonplussed, still reeling from the unexpected rejection, looked down at Jay Yi, who was a good head shorter. The woman was astute enough to understand she could not afford to display her displeasure to or offend someone of Hwan's mysterious but obviously aristocratic stature. 

"Oh, I apologise, my Lord. I failed to appreciate your presence," the woman quickly recovered, displaying no sign of appreciating any part of Jay Yi's presence between her and Hwan.

"It happens often when Scholar Park is around," Jay Yi said conspiratorily. "Do not judge him by his looks. I can attest he does not lie. He is indeed insufferably uninteresting, my lady."

The woman sent Hwan a speculative look. The strange, hungry look in her eyes was beyond Jay Yi's experience to understand. 

Suddenly, she felt Hwan's hand on her shoulder. "My Lord, you could, perhaps, explain to my lady here that my interest lies...elsewhere." Hwan had bent forward, whispering in her ear, loud enough for the entire Joseon to hear. 

Startled, the woman looked at Jay Yi with a small, "Oh!"

Jay Yi coloured, shaking Hwan's hand off her shoulder, who was silently laughing behind her. 

"My Lady, why do I not escort you to your group, who seem eagerly waiting for you?" Mun Jeon, obviously having witnessed enough of the absurdity, offered gallantly.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Jay Yi moved away, a movement from a table across the Inn catching her attention. Tae Kang was laughing at her. She huffed back to her seat.

"Shall we move our discussion to the privacy of Manyeodang?" Myung Jin suggested. Everyone jumped off their seats as if the benches had sprouted thorns.

The deep quiet of the sweet evening amplified the crunch of the gravel emitting from Hwan's and Jay Yi's synched footsteps, followed by Ga-ram's and Tae Kang's some distance behind. The air was expectantly chilly, but winter had not turned on its wrath yet. It had been a clear and sunny day; the night sky was full of dazzling stars. Hwan wanted the evening to stretch forever.

"That was cheating." Jay Yi complained, though her voice did not contain the rancour anymore.

"I admit I had instructed Young Master to keep my participation from everyone," Hwan confessed truthfully. Myung Jin, unfortunately, had erroneously thought he was giving Jay Yi a wonderful surprise. "Master Kim did not know about - about our disagreement."

Not surprisingly, Jay Yi had not confided what had been hurting her, even to Ga-ram. "And from what I gather, you have not enlightened Ga-ram either." There was a question in what Hwan said, but Jay Yi did not answer.

"Sc-scholar Park, can I speak with you for a minute?" Ga-ram had entreated him earlier in the evening as they left the Inn after the 'Lady Kang' fiasco. Mun Jeon had declined to join them, and Ban Rye had left as it was getting late, leaving the four of them making their way to Manyeodang. Jay Yi had marched out ahead after Myung Jin, determined to keep her distance from Hwan.

Hwan stayed back with Ga-ram for a few minutes.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for not getting angry at Aashi." At first, Hwan failed to understand what she was trying to say. He could only look at her quizzically. "She burned a letter from you -" Ga-ram twisted her fingers in anxiousness. "The girls told me that she had turned Royal Guardian away several times."

"Ah! That. It's all right, Jung Ga-ram. She had sent verbal messages through Tae Kang. Do not worry." 

Ga-ram bowed her gratefulness.

"Aashi has not been well for more than two months now, ever since the last day of the Procession." She slapped her head. " I stupidly got drunk and passed out that night at the Inn. She went home alone -" Ga-ram left it unsaid, but her fearful face spoke volumes.

"She was safe, Jung Ga-ram. My men are always around her. "

Ga-ram's face flooded with relief.

"I don't know what it is....she has not been eating, and I know she cries a lot. I have never seen her like this, not even when Master and Mistress passed away. But she does not tell me anything. I don't know what to do. I know it is not my place to say, Your Majesty, but I wonder if you could speak with her -" Ga-ram paused awkwardly. 

Hwan felt the worst kind of worm alive for causing her this much pain. His heart shrivelled. 

Give her time and your sincere apology. She will forgive you.

There was a vague optimism in his heart that all was not over for him. Hwan gave Jay Yi a sideward glance. Her face was still flushed from all the wine they consumed after moving their discussion to Manyeodang. Perhaps that was why she had not objected vehemently to his suggestion that he walk them home. He would have resorted to giving her an order had she refused, but it did not come to that, thankfully. 

He wanted to reach out and take the silly hat off her head, let all that beautiful hair loose around her. He almost reached out to tuck an imaginary tendril behind her ear, his heart filling with tenderness and a fierce protectiveness that had nothing to do with physical safety. 

Hwan felt a strange empathy with the solitary lanterns hanging on the hooks of some houses lining the street. They mirrored the occasional light that filled his being when Jay Yi smiled or threw a look at him, unguarded, all through the evening. How adorably she had jumped in to 'save' him from Lady Kang's clutches! He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and declare to the world she was the only one he would ever want. The cloud of misery weighing down his shoulders for these past few weeks was finally beginning to dissipate. 

She had known precisely when he was there at the Inn today. Her shoulders had stiffened, perhaps in rejection. Yet, even when angry, she was defending him passionately.

It didn't mean she had forgiven him. Yet. 

He knew she still hurt deeply but didn't hold the evening's deviousness against him for some unfathomable reason. For now, that was enough.

"I meant what I said. I wanted your insight into this matter. We should know a little more about the families in a week," Hwan continued, revealing none of the thoughts occupying his mind. 

Jay Yi regarded Hwan with her expressive eyes, something clearly in her mind.

Hwan lifted his brows in a silent question.

"I am not certain women will open up to guards about their eating habits."

Hwan abruptly stopped. "You cannot go to the villages to ask questions. Also, I will be sending Court female physicians."

"It might be worthwhile to check out the houses within Hanyang through an investigator's eyes. I can go disguised as a Court physician."

Hwan knew better than to argue. Knowing her, she would find ways to defy his orders anyway.

"All right, but you must be clever and safe about it. We do not know what we are dealing with here."

Bending forward, Jay Yi seemed to squint at her toes. She made a small loop in the dust with her shoe.

"Your Majesty, I shall not object anymore to being protected by your men as long as you feel it is necessary." 

Startled, Hwan cast a glance at her lowered head warily. It was not like her to suddenly agree to something she had vociferously opposed. 

"I will assist in every case you think I will be helpful with." Her shoe was still drawing small, absentminded circles and lines in the dust. Tae Kang and Ga-ram had stopped a good distance away, carefully keeping themselves out of earshot. "In return, you will not seek me out outside the cases. I would like our association strictly limited to my service to you, Your Majesty." She raised her chin. Her eyes were clear. She meant it. 

Patience.

"As you wish, Min Jay Yi."

She blinked. 

Hwan smiled internally. Well, two could play the game.