Chapter 8.2

Eunseol felt a little bit angry and said.

“So it was the guard’s captain that I ran into earlier on the street?”

Then she gave a little smile. There was a strange mixture of joy and fear in Doyoon’s deep voice. He was happy to see Eunseol again, but Doyoon couldn’t shake off the fear in his body because of this ironic fate of meeting.

“You appeared like a wind earlier…But how come you are in front of me again? Why are you here?”

Eunseol smiled slightly at his question, and gently bit her lips.

“Then tell me how did you appear in front of me again?”

Is he too, wondering about this strange fate? Eunseol twinkled her eyes and looked up at Doyoon, who was also staring at her. However, Doyoon also couldn’t answer her question. He just struggled to clean up the rough breath that remained like debris. Eunseol stared at Doyoon, who was holding her handkerchief tightly in his hand.

“How come the Guard’s Captain is in hiding?”

“I don’t know…”

While speaking bluntly, Doyoon couldn’t take his gaze off the handkerchief he was holding. Eunseol looked at him, who was only looking down at the handkerchief without wiping the dripping sweat.

“Do you not know how to use the handkerchief?”

Then Eunseol took the handkerchief and personally wiped off his sweat. Doyoon’s eyes shook violently. At first glance, his heart was shaken by the warm touch on his forehead from Eunseol’s hand while wiping his sweat.

“It’s okay. I can do it.”

Doyoon gently grasped Eunseol’s wrist, but Eunseol didn’t stop until she wiped away all the sweat from his forehead.

“I am just trying to return the favor I received in the Gwangju palace last time, so don’t refuse.”

Doyoon had to step back from Eunseol because his heart was already jumping out of control. It beat so fast that it seemed like the sound of his heart would be heard by Eun Seol so Doyoon held his breath and stepped back. Eunseol’s black and sparkling eyes collided with Doyoon’s trembling gaze.

“Sir Captain?”

“What”

“You were telling me a lie, right?”

Eunseol flashed her eyes and soon burst into a bright smile. It seemed as if the flower rained over the clear blue sky. It was the moment when the indescribable beauty became thrilling and penetrated Doyoon’s heart.

”No, I am not a man of lies.”

Even when he said that, he was actually telling lies. Doyoon looked at Eunseol who didn’t let go of her smile as if it were fun.

“So how do you explain that the captain of the guards was being chased in this manner?”

At her question, Doyoon suddenly looked at his outfit. It was not a silk coat, but a shabby, unknown warrior uniform and sword. He was dressed more like a poor man playing warrior than a guard’s captain. Doyoon coughed awkwardly and brushed off the dirt from his clothes.

“And you. Why are you poking around here and meeting me?

“What do you mean poking? I just stopped by the bookstore to run errands. Don’t get me wrong.”

“……”

Then suddenly Eunseol mimicked Doyoon’s voice and said.

“Did you come to kill me? Do you want to be a concubine?

While saying that, Eunseol was smiling very cutely. Her appearance was cute and ridiculous, and Doyoon burst into laughter without even knowing.

“What? Is it not true what you would say? Why are you laughing? The captain does seem to know how to laugh.

At that time, the men who had been chasing Do Yoon a while ago started gathering outside the side of the bookstore, who seemed to have surrounded his border.”

“He must be hiding around here. Find him!”

The group of fighters was walking and searching around the streets. Doyoon hurriedly turned around, pulled up his mask all the way over his nose. Eunseol glanced at him, who was in jeopardy and quickly grasped his sleeve.

“Please follow me. I think I can help the captain this time.”

Eunseol nodded her head with a soft voice. Then Doyoon looked at Eunseol and then turned to look back outside the bookstore. It seemed dangerous to go straight out of the bookstore. At that time, the bookstore’s owner came to Eunseol with a stack of books in his hands which Eun Seol was waiting for earlier. Then Eunseol grabbed Doyoon’s hesitant wrist and asked the bookstore’s owner.

“Do you have a back door here?”

At a sudden question, the owner was surprised and silently pointed to a door with her finger without asking for reasons.

“If you open that door and enter, there will be a passage. If you go all the way along that passage, you will see another side door. If you open the door and go out, you will find something like a garden. Just follow that path.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Eunseol smiled and squeezed his wrist. Then she called Yeoju, who was waiting for her outside the bookstore.

“Yeoju, come here. Let’s go this way.”

“Yes?”

Yeoju looked closely at Doyoon, who stood next to Eunseol, with her eyes full of boundaries. Then she looked down at Doyoon’s wrist, which Eunseol was holding tightly, and looked back at Eunseol and Doyoon with suspicious eyes.

“Let’s go.”

“…”

“My lady!”

Surprised, Doyoon and Yeoju couldn’t even prepare but Eunseol swung the door open. Then she quickly pulled Doyoon into it.

“Ah, there are places like this.”

As the bookstore’s owner told her, she walked along the aisle smelling gourd and opened the last door, and bright sunlight poured out at once. Doyoon, who followed her silently, frowned his eyebrows in the sudden sunlight. Eunseol, too, frowned her eyes and let go of his hand. It was a place where brilliant tranquility shimmered, unlike the chattering street. As she watched the colorful flowers draped over the wide-open garden and her admiration thought of the temple.

“Ah. It’s a flower garden.”

Eunseol trembled a little when there was such a place in Hanyang. Doyoon, who stood next to her, also amazed and looked around the flower garden. Suddenly Yeoju spoke.

“It’s the first time you’re here, right?”

Yeoju, who was looking back at Eunseol with her surprised face, gave a whiff at the flowers. Doyoon, who was standing silently nearby, also quietly looked back at Yeoju. Then she continued.

“It is a famous flower garden. In spring, all kinds of flowers bloom so finely without having to grow them. And it had a legend.”

“What?”

“It is said that a man and a woman who likes each other will surely fall in love when walking in this flowery path together.”

“…”

“It’s called Philaewon.”

Yeoju’s voice sounded somehow secretive when she said its name. Eunseol coughed and poked Yeoju in the side. Doyoon also seemed embarrassed, coughing loudly, and turned to the other side. Yeoju took a step back, swallowing a giggling and laughing at the strange air flowing between the two.

“Yeoju, why are you backing down?”

Eunseol opened her round eyes and looked back at Yeoju.

“Then I will go back first, my lady.”

Unlike usual, Yeoju, who has been overly polite, bowed down toward Eunseol, like she was about to leave. Eunseol, moreover, gently grabbed her wrist with an embarrassing face.

“Yeoju, Why are you doing this …..?”

“I need to leave this lovely atmosphere for my lady and the captain. Can’t you tell?”

“Yeoju, you are too much!”

Eunseol’s voice sounded quite dignified and weighty but her cheeks were blushing red.

Yeoju couldn’t stop giggling and said,

“I am doing this for your happiness, my lady. Don’t worry, just talk comfortably. I will make up an excuse for you with the master.”

“Yeoju! Not like that..!”

Before Eunseol even finished speaking, Yeoju ran away as if she was in a hurry. Eunseol, staring at the back of Yeoju, who was rapidly moving away, with a shocking face, gave out a sigh. Then Eun Seol’s face turned blush with her back facing Do Yoon. Strangely, her heart seemed to be thumping and shaking violently.

The courage to turn around naturally and look at Do Yoon somehow disappeared. This was because of Yeoju, who had misunderstood the situation and left strange words behind. Then awkwardly, Eunseol gently bit her lips and turned around. As if she was being touched by something hot, Do Yoon’s gaze touched her face and it began to glow red. Without speaking, they stood there facing each other with only their eyes. The sweet and breezy wind arose.

“It’s Philaewon.”

Doyoon, who stared at Eunseol, whose cheeks were blushing and her lips were red. As his face was covered and exposed only his eyes but it seemed that cold air was spewing from him. The dark and deep eyes were overwhelmed and deeply buried with its characteristic coldness and bitterness. Eunseol shuddered unknowingly. Those eyes, those cold gazes, engulfed Eunseol. At that time, Doyoon took off his mask and took a step closer to Eunseol.

“We must fall in love.”

Doyoon slowly spoke the words and drew a soft smile on his lips. Then Doyoon continued and gently placed his hands on Eunseol’s hardened shoulders.

“Would it be okay if I fall in love with you?”

At that moment, Eunseol’s softened heart dropped below her feet.

💞💞💞