The Same Day...

It was high noon by now. Yoon Dae Woo had gone for a walk as his father had advised, so his face was currently buried in a book. Two guards followed behind him for his safety, while Man Dok walked ahead to watch for obstacles.

One of the guards had been made to hold a flowery parasol above him, shielding him from the noon sun. This was a fairly normal practice among nobles, so they weren't out of place.

Everything seemed normal to the outside eye, and even to Man Dok and the two guards.

But Dae Woo was constantly fighting pain.

It wasn't as bad as that morning, but it was bad enough to make it hard for him to concentrate on what he was doing. Added to that was a headache, which he guessed was caused by forcing himself to concentrate.

"Doryeonnim. There's more of them..." Man Dok stated, a bit exasperatedly. He had stopped in front of a fairly large group of servants.

"Doryeonnim, please accept this proposal!" They all seemed to be saying at the same time, and Dae Woo felt his headache worsen.

These people had hounded him since he his home!

A large number of them had been camped outside the Yoon residence when he came out, and even when he had evaded those ones, more kept accosting him as they went.

Dae Woo sighed in resignation, looking at the letters they were all holding out to him.

No Pinks. No Flowery designs... These were all official.

"Joesonghamnida." He smiled charmingly. "I already decided to work in the Scholar Palace. I aspire to become Chief Scholar someday."

He moved past them, ignoring the disappointed sighs and pleas, but of course, another set was waiting for him.

"Doryeonnim!"

He quickly glanced round at their outstretched hands quickly, as they all vied for his attention.

Pinks. Plenty of pinks and flowery designs, and even perfume... These were the Other set!

"Joesonghamnida!" He went around them without hesitating and one of the guards blocked them, attempting to keep them away. "My marriage is already arranged with someone else." He added.

"Please rethink, Doryeonnim! Please consider our Agashi!" One had broken past the guard,  and the others followed, rushing at him, extremely determined to force the letters on him.

This was the worst day to handle this...

He had to stick close enough to the servant with the parasol, so the sun wouldn't fall on him and make the blood clotting concoction stop working. He had to ignore the constant throbbing pain in his side, and added to this, he had to carefully skirt around these determined servants.

He was already wondering what to do if they rushed around him, when...

"What's going on here?!" A large voice boomed, and there was instant quiet.

Dae Woo felt a rush of relief, but it was quickly doused when he turned and saw a group of about twenty Palace Guards, Led by the Third Assistant Head of Military...

.

Meanwhile, Jung Ha Na had left the Gyobang and had just arrived at one of the Capital Libraries. She had chosen this particular one, because it was near the Scholar Palace.

And because everyone at the gyobang was fairly certain that he liked to read here!

Everyone in the Gyobang apparently knew Yoon Doryeonnim! He was something like an unattainable goal to the women there...

"You have to meet him naturally... If you approach like the other ladies, he won't pay any attention to you. Create an accidental meeting, or approach with something he loves."

Sang Ma-Nim's words repeated themselves in her head, and Ha Na smiled mischievously.

What if she did both?

Created an accidental meeting in a place where he was surrounded by books, which he loved!

She was about to enter the library when...

"AGASHI!!!!!" Soo Ha's voice sliced into the normal afternoon din. Ha Na turned to see her approaching like a storm.

Her voice had been loud and booming, and had drawn the attention of everyone passing by.

What if Yoon Doryeonnim was somewhere around here?!

"How embarassing!" Ha Na muttered to herself, covering her face with her fan. She picked her skirts and ran off in the opposite direction, Soo Ha chasing from behind...

.

"Chief Scholar's Son?" The Third Assistant Head of Military, Yeo Ji Tak, was asking Man Dok, who had just shown Dae Woo's identity plaque. He sat atop a handsome brown horse, though the other guards were on foot.

"Ye, Yongam (Like Daegam, but lower in rank)." Man Dok answered with a deep bow.

The man looked from Dae Woo to his guards, to the servants who were now silent, but shifting uncomfortably.

"Why are you bothering a man that's trying to read in peace, uh?!" He turned to the other Palace guards. "Search them." Then he turned back to Dae Woo.

"Greetings, Yongam." Dae Woo bowed slightly in greeting, 

"Aheummm. You're a lot like your father." He and Chief Scholar had taken the basic state exams at the same time back in the day, though his had been the Military Exam. "I don't want to disturb you, but we have orders from above to search every male above thirteen and below sixty."

"May I ask what this is about?" Dae Woo asked politely, with a disinterested face. He groaned inwardly as the guards started searching his own guards first.

This meant he was now under the hot afternoon sun...

Lord Yeo Ji Tak was taken aback by his question, and he studied him.

"Is your face really in a book all the time? Someone tried to assassinate Jeonha during the Awards feast. It has been everywhere in the Capital."

Dae Woo's eyes had widened in surprise. "What guts does the person have to attempt such a thing?"

"We suspect he is hiding somewhere in the Capital, so every male must be checked."

"I understa." Dae Woo answered simply. He raised his arms, turning left and right. "Where was he injured?" He asked.

Lord Yeo Ji Tak shook his head.

"Don't bother if you don't know. I hear you want to become chief scholar someday... Do you think it involves only reading? Aigoo, tsk tsk tsk..." He had turned to go, but he thought he had just seen something.

Dae Woo realized what it must be a little too late... He had felt the wound begin to bleed again a few seconds ago. He had taken his father's advise and worn a dark red dapho, but the dampness might show in the bright sunlight.

"On second thought Doryeonnim, I think I should check y-."

"Watch out!!" A voice called, and Dae Woo turned in shock to see a girl running, full speed, toward them.

He was going to instinctively swivel out of the way, but he caught himself, as he remembered his father's words...

"...do whatever it takes..."

This would be the perfect distraction!

Dae Woo swallowed the pain and braced himself for the impact...

Jung Ha Na's eyes widened as the person in her way turned to face her, but too late!

Crash!

She bumped into him, and it seemed like the two of them would fall, but he had grabbed her expertly, planting his feet and catching her right before she hit the floor. Her fan, which had been her protective cover, fell to the floor.

Ha Na had squeezed her eyes shut when she had collided with him, and dreaded opening them now.

She had run from potential embarrassment into actual embarrassment!

"Agashi!" Soo Ha had come to a stop.

"Doryeonnim! Are you okay?!" Dae Woo's guards and Man Dok had rushed over.

Dae Woo noted her eyes were still squeezed shut. "Ya. Are you okay? Aren't you going to open your eyes?"

Ha Na quickly arranged her features. "Omo, how frightening. Thanks for catching me, Doryeonnim." She said gently, as she opened her eyes slowly and gracefully. Despite her short mental preparation, she was still taken by surprise to find him so close.

The Pain in Dae Woo's side was throbbing extra painfully now, and he felt himself getting weaker.

He quickly helped her up fully, releasing her when she was steady. He mentally cast around, while pretending to straighten his hanbok. "Don't you remember me, or are you playing coy... Aren't you the pretty maiden that interrupted my reading? The one throwing stones at my window yesterday evening?"

It was utter rubbish... A clever attempt to make it seem like he had been at home studying. Of course she would deny it, but he would just act like it must have been someone else, and then Man Dok would remember and attest to the fact that he had actually stayed home and studied.

What he did not expect was...

"Ah, ye." Ha Na replied, then blushed furiously when she realized what she had just admitted!

All she had heard was the word 'Pretty', and she had responded without thinking!

Dae Woo studied her in surprise, but masked it well.

"Aheummm!" Lord Yeo Ji Tak cleared his throat loudly, drawing their attention back to him. " If you've been checked go back home! We'll keep checking round the Capital. You all." He had turned to the servants, with their proposals still clutched neatly. "Go away from here now!"

He watched them disperse amidst complaints, then he signaled to his men, and turned to leave.

Surely he had imagined the tiny, slightly dark patch on Yoon Dae Woo's Dapho... With the description of the assassin's injury, there's no way he would have moved so fast to catch the girl!

Besides, the girl had just admitted she had been throwing stones outside his window... That meant he must have been in his home...

.

 "Agashi, what nonsense are you spouting? You weren't out yesterday evening!" Soo Ha whispered to her, when the Palace Guards had left. "What if you start weird rumors?!"

"Shh!" Ha Na raised a hand. "I blame you for my recent embarrassment, so stand over there and don't cause trouble!" She furiously whispered back, then straightened quickly, smiling beautifully at Yoon Dae Woo.

"I can't thank you enough, Doryeonnim... It would have surely been a dangerous fall for me." She bowed gracefully. "I'm indebted to you for life." 

"Make him feel strong... like you might constantly need his help..." Another advice Sang Ma-Nim had given her... She smiled with a slight smirk while bowing, then rearranged her face when she straightened.

Dae Woo studied her in mild, but well hidden surprise... No body else seemed to have noticed that, and they were all staring at her with glowing looks on their faces.

But he had been trained to be far more observant than most.

First, she had admitted to his nonsensical statement earlier... It had saved him extra trouble, but...

This surely was the most two-faced person he had met so far!

However, he had no time to think about that. If he kept bleeding, it was bound to show more than a little. Plus he was becoming lightheaded with the pain.

He smiled, returning her bow with a slight inclination of his head.

"Aheum. Ye." He had whipped out his own fan, and began fanning himself in a mild show of nervousness. "It was my pleasure. Please take care from now on."

"Take care, Doryeonnim." She bowed slightly this time, as he turned to leave.

Ha Na remained smiling serenely, until he and his servants had gone a considerable distance and turned a corner.

The she turned an angry face on Soo Ha.

"Ya!"

"Wae?" Soo Ha was smartly avoiding looking at her. "If Agashi had not run away in front of the  library, this wouldn't have happened."

"Are you still talking? I ran because I obviously thought he would be there! You're so dead!"

She stormed away in the direction of home, leaving Soo Ha to follow behind her from a safe distance!