Hello. I hope that such long breaks between the chapters would not deter you from continuing to read the story. It has been a struggle for me lately, and I am not able to update frequently, but I very much appreciate all of you who review and ask for more. Please, make sure to leave a comment. Thanks a lot.
He stomped, brushing past Min Ho's bedroom, and down the stairs, pushing the door open and found himself outside in the gardens. Only then could he breathe. He felt how tightly his fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword, as if his life depended on it. The boiling anger in him fed his heart and clouded his mind. He could control it easily, but he had no wish to do so. He wanted to let it out, to allow fury to burn in its full intensity and infuse his energy, lighting the dark night with the sparks of his KI. It shoot out of his hand and his arm lifted up, shaken with the electricity harnessed on the fired steel of his weapon. The sharp tip glistened and discharged the ball of energy into the night…
And the strength of it kicked Choi Young at the source, making him stumble. Suddenly, what lay underneath the anger was released into the just vacant place – it was an emotion Choi Young did not indulge frequently – fear. Fear nested within him, irrational fear that what Jae Su had said was true. That he, in fact, had a powerful ability to travel through time and effect change. Only it was not the case. He was just a man, a man who was in love and who by some mysterious intervention of fate traveled in time to meet a woman who was destined for him.
What he is, what he thought he was – a warrior, Woodalchi, a man who just happened to pass through the Hwata's gate to meet his one true destiny – to love and be with Eun Soo – Jae Su made him question it. The foundations of his belief about what kind of person he was and what kind of life he was supposed to live were shaken. Not to the core, but just enough for his mind and heart to be confused and frustrated. That thought alone was too scary to comprehend or to consider even a possibility. If his reality were not already based on the unexplained and unknown, he would not have batted an eye, but here he was in Seoul, South Korea, 21st Century, 700 years in the future from the time when he was born and the place where he came from. If he believed in magic, he would call what happened to him – magic, but he did not.
He trusted that there was a purpose for his trip and that purpose was to meet the woman with whom they were meant to be together. He has come to terms with this fact. The explanation made sense and was the only meaningful and plausible explanation for his presence in the future. He knew the day would come when he would have to face his past, when he might have to return, yet he could have never imagined it to be under such …. circumstances.
Slowly, with trepidation he delved into the corner of his subconscious, pulling out a hidden knowledge – I've always waited for this day to come. There are no surprises there. You don't deserve her, with so much blood on your hands, all the mistakes you've made, you are not meant to have happiness. Everybody you love will die. You are just a ghost of the past, leaving is the right thing to do.
. . .
Eun Soo was a doctor, not only Choi Young's girlfriend. Behind that door, which he slammed on the way out, was a man who required her care.
She was very conflicted about Jae Su. He was an assassin, yet Choi Young's friend. She would not trust him for the world, but for some reason Choi Young did. She did not like that this man inserted himself into their little world, made a mess out of things and now was causing even more trouble by refusing to go to the hospital and having her worry and work twice as hard to keep him alive and get him better. She was not even considering what it was like for Lee Min Ho, who was put in the middle of this time traveling warrior comrades at odds saga. If it were a drama – it would rake high rating for the crazy plot and insanely hot main male characters, but it was her life. She accepted the fact that falling in love with a Goryeo general had its drawbacks, of this kind included.
She came in, finding her patient sleeping. How he could sleep at a time like that, she could not imagine, but on the second thought – Choi Young could sleep through an explosion. These men could sleep because they needed to sleep whenever they could get some shuteye.
She approached Jae Su cautiously and touched his forehead. It was hot and clammy. His breathing was ragged and he was shivering. Eun Soo pulled the covers over his exposed torso and sat by the bed. Maybe, he was not a bad person, maybe, he was just caught in some bad situation. Good person in a bad situation. That should be it. Otherwise, she could not find it in herself to have much compassion for him.
Suddenly, his whole body convulsed and jerked up, he screamed as if from a nightmare and called out, Omma! Omma! You can't! Noooo! A haggard yell broke through his lips, " Young-ah! I had to!"
His own screams awakened him. He looked around confused, still under the spell of terror, staring at Eun Soo for a good minute before recognizing her face and where he was.
"Doctor? Did I frighten you?" He said unexpectedly kind.
"You have a fever. I'm afraid you wound is infected. You need surgery. I'll call the ambulance to send you to the hospital. If you are worried, I will come along."
"No. My life is of no importance. I can't leave before Choi Young agrees to help."
"Jae Su-shi," Eun Soo used her professional tone of a kind and firm mixture. "I don't care about what you think of you life. As long as you are under my care, I make all the medical decisions. You are in no condition to put up a fight with me. You will do as I say."
"I appreciate this. I really do," he responded, again catching her off guard with the way his voice was so soft and friendly. He was not argumentative, just talking with her, like a friend, not an enemy. "If you are willing to hear me out, I will go to the hospital."
"No talking. I saw how Choi Young was after speaking with you. Whatever you said to him, I am sure, you hurt him very much. Don't look for sympathy from me."
"I'm not. In fact, I loathe sympathy. Don't bother with me. This thing that made him like that – it's not about me."
"Stop it. I told you – no conversation. I will try this one method. If it works, I might buy you some time." And she focused, having only tried it once before – her healing hands with the power of KI – Eun Soo touched the site of the injury. Eyes closed, once again she could see the tear in the vessel and how the bullet cut through his flesh. Her hand moved and directed hit of KI, a charge zapped the area and stopped further bleeding, sealing it from infection spreading deeper into the tissues and blood. How, she did not understand. But she knew for sure that whatever she did – worked.
"There, you should rest. Your nightmare, you called Young-ah, was it Choi Young?"
"Thank you doctor," he deflected intentionally, confirming by not answering, making Eun Soo break into cold sweat. There was a big secret, which Jae Su held over her boyfriend's head. She felt in her very gut – it would be better, if she did not know.
She ran out the room, the man only following her off with his eyes. "She is a good woman. What a pity." He sighed, full of regret. "It's up to him now."
Choi Young currently was pacing back and forth in the yard. Lee Min Ho returned to his room and patiently waited for somebody to fill him in. Eun Soo stopped in the long corridor, not knowing where to go and what to do. She first headed downstairs, but knowing Choi Young, he required some private space to process. Their connection allowed her to sense his emotions and if not read his thoughts, to have a glimpse of internal fight that he waged in his mind. He was extremely disturbed, upset, confused, angry and very very sad; the sadness morphed into despair and then something even more painful hit Eun Soo – it was resignation. She could feel how he started to give up and … become more distant.
"What the heck did that man tell him?" She turned, determined to get her answers tonight, but as she passed by Min Ho's room noticed the light was on. How could she forget. He was still her patient and her responsibility, just like Jae Su. She needed to monitor his condition as well. Choi Young sure knew how to bring crisis to his doorstep.
"Min Ho-shi," she softly knocked on the door and opened it.
He was asleep; tired from fighting with his body to stay awake, from all the craziness that suddenly ensued around him, the young actor was resting. Eun Soo approached tiptoeing and nearing her hand to the side of his head, which she healed before. She was quickly getting a hang of the process: proximity and direct contact created some kind of interaction of her Ki with the patient's body. And then as if seeing everything on Xray or some other scan, she could feel through her hands where and what was wrong. The swelling has gone down, it appeared that it was safe for him to sleep. She sighed in relief. At least one of the men under her care could be left alone for the night. She tucked the cover around him, snuck out, turned off the light and shut the door tightly. "Good night," she said.
