My dear readers, like promised, the next chapter is delivered for your attention. Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I am trying my best to post as frequently as I can. I am really excited about this particular arc. Please leave your comments. People and things are getting more entangled, as we speak. I'm waiting to read your responses!
Choi Young was dining with his master again. This time when the drink was poured, he barely touched it and his behavior did not escape the hawk sharp eyes of the teacher.
"A man of your living does not drink?"
"Something I had learned in my training."
"A warrior should hold his liquor."
"I can not afford to lose vigilance."
"Then one drink?"
Choi Young vividly recalled the incident with his KI and the words of his master flashed in bright rouge in his mind. He took a sip of alcohol confidently. The teacher checked his reaction and smirked into the beard. Comfort of the company made Choi Young forget why and most importantly when they were. He chuckled at the familiar mannerism – even as years passed for him, he could still read the teacher as the palm of his hand, like they had just met for a regular lesson yesterday.
"Do you have students of your own?" The man interrupted his nostalgic memory.
"Oh, yes." Choi Young readily nodded. He did, did not he? "I had one. He was promising, but I had to leave before we could complete his training."
"That's a pity."
Silence lowered over them. Choi Young mulled over his food, eyes purposefully on the plate. He had been in this mentally and emotionally draining state of solitary contemplation for quite some time, only leaving him to be even more exasperated, frustrated and further from clarity than when he first started. His trusted mentor was right in front of him, and Choi Young of the past would not hesitate to seek his opinion. This kind of opportunity was given once in a lifetime. Should caution be set aside in favor of seeking certainty?
Not that the teacher would make it easy by giving him an answer, but talking with him inescapably offered an objective perspective that Choi Young was completely lacking. Life and death, future of individuals and possibly even the whole country was at stake. For Choi Young these were not abstract scenarios – all of these people claimed parts of his heart, a heart that was being torn apart from joy to see them and despair to lose them all over again. What he had to do was too personal, too subjective for him to apply cold detached rationalization of intellectual approach.
"Master, can I ask your opinion about something?" Finally said Choi Young, gathering his courage. Maybe, the solution to his impossible choice could be within the very person, whom the choice will be affecting directly.
"Speak."
"If you knew when and how you will die and had a way of preventing it, would you do it?"
"Interesting," the teacher pensively stroked his beard with deft fingers. "I would like to die with honor, knowing that my death meant something. But when my time comes, I will accept it gracefully, be it from a sword or from a strike of a heaven's hand. Life is not supposed to be walked in caution."
Choi Young listened with a stoic unreadable expression. "So, you would not want somebody to interfere."
"I believe our lot has been cast. Maybe, I may live an extra day or an extra year, but everything is about balance. Then somebody's else's life might be cut short."
"And if you could save a loved one, for example your child?"
"My child? I would gladly give a life for her. But if I had known in advance how to safe her?" He looked thoughtfully at Choi Young. "You speak as if of experience."
"So even if you knew the exact moment and circumstance your child were to die, you would not interfere?" He pressed on, relentless in his ultimate goal.
"If I can be a shield for her - then I will, without a moment's hesitation. But she has her own path to follow. Interfere or not, I can't change when her time is written, either."
Choi Young expected this coming from his teacher - leaving him just where he started, no apparent answer, only confirmation that if he were to let things be as they had been, the history would repeat itself. Damn it!
Face contorted by pain. Dimming with acceptance bloodshot eyes of his dying master. His own body stiffened in shock, rage overflowing. Helplessness. Utter helplessness. Master! NO! Sounds and images rushing back. Drilling into his mind's screen.
And fear to be recognized not mattering, with feverish vigor burning in his normally calm eyes, the warrior leaned forward, bearing what had been torturing him for years: "What if you die unfairly?!"
The master took an unhurried introspective look, seeking to deliver an honest answer to the man with tumultuous soul. "Is death fair? Is life fair for that matter?" The teacher scoffed. "We, who wield the sword choose what's fair, don't we?"
Choi Young dived with forced determination into his teacher's eyes, with such a gripping stare that the man's face darkened in apprehension. Not willing to accept, the words of agreement only sounded like a challenge thrown back, "Yes, Master, this is a fact of our lives."
"Even the way you speak reminds me so much of my student. Such disgust toward injustice. Your eyes... Passion... The same stubborn glow, the same depth of melancholy, the same hunger for knowledge... The same strength of conviction." The teacher spoke as if to himself, not directing it at his companion.
Choi Young swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I'm expected elsewhere. It's been an honor." He got up bowing at the waist, his final silent goodbye as a sign of the deepest respect. Turning, he hesitated to take the first step, walking away for the last time from this man who was precious to him, but Choi Young knew very well he was gifted as it were to have shared this meal. Heavy, laden were his strides and he allowed himself to stop after he covered some distance. He slowly turned to take in the image of his master once more...
"What is your name?" The man was staring directly at him.
Choi Young inhaled sharply, considering the implications of telling the truth, to which neither of them were prepared. As his mind was searching for a plausible solution, his eyes registered something that alerted his attention: a familiar messenger approached so hasty, his breath could not catch up to his words, each interlaced between quick gasps for air. "Master... it's ... Mae Hee... there is ... something ...wrong, very ...wrong!" Jae Su's voice was urgent and trembling with pure terror.
The teacher rose from the table, grabbing the boy's shoulders. "Where is my daughter?!"
Choi Young covered the same distance that felt like eternity in an instant as he exclaimed, "My wife is a great doctor. She might be able to help."
Both men turned to him in confusion, while Jae Su mumbled, "Sir fairy?" But Choi Young shot him a warning look, effectively shutting the boy up.
"Master, please allow me to be of assistance. If you daughter is ill..."
The teacher took only a few seconds to study the face of the stranger. His mind flashed back on the questions about saving his child with a strange sense of foreboding and his decision was made. "This boy will take you to her."
. . .
Jae Su paced impatiently in the yard, jumping up to a small window right under the eaves of the roof, in attempt to see inside. He approached the door at least ten times, mumbling something, possibly an excuse, but each time he stopped with a loud sigh. Once, the magical doctor stuck her head out to let him know that Mae Hee was not in danger, disappearing into the small home again, as the boy stood speechless. What does it mean not in danger? Not in danger to die now? Lady fairy was gone long before he opened his mouth... Too busy being out of his mind with worry, Jae Su finally came to his senses and sprinted, easily jumping over the low fence. He had to immediately report to the teacher about his daughter's condition. When Eun Soo stuck her head out the second time around, she found the yard surprisingly empty. Soon her husband exited, hurrying as well.
The night had fallen with the cloudy coolness sneaking through the gaps and small cracks into the house. Seated by the burning candle, Eun Soo was peering intently at the lighted phone screen. Periodically she was scribbling something on a piece of paper and then back to her magical device, loaded with gigabytes of compressed medical knowledge conveniently stored in the palm of her hand. "Eureka!" She clapped her hands in excitement and then threw her head back, closing her eyes for a quick rest. Her tangled mess of hair revealed her pale face tinted with exhaustion. When she woke, she was sleeping on a mattress, covered with a blanket. As her eyes got used to the darkness, she made out three figures in the far corner. One of them was the tallest, another one a bit shorter, with broader construction and the third lightweight and slimmer. "Young-ah," she whispered.
"I'm here, Imja." The tall shape rose from his seat and came up to the bed with his silent steps. "Jae Su and master are here. They wanted to stay next to her, you understand?"
"Why did not you wake me up before?" she rubbed her eyes, voice still tinted by sleep, but with clear accusation.
"You were tired," he explained gently touching her face with his knuckles. "You said she was not in danger, so I let you sleep. Can you tell them what you found out?"
Eun Soo got up with Choi Young's help and pulled out her phone out of the pocket.
"You brought it?" He hissed incredulous.
"I needed it. You will thank me later. Either way, I narrowed it down to mushroom poisoning."
"You can't show them this thing."
"Stranger," she looked at him like he was a bit dimwitted, "I wrote it down on a paper, of course." And legs wobbly, drowsy Eun Soo jerked to the table, with Choi Young barely able to prevent her from bumping into a chair and falling over an obstacle on the floor.
Once safe at her destination, she sifted through the crumbled pieces, searching for the one she needed with intense attention that begged for respect. Both Jae Su and the master watched in silence how a beautiful creature fumbled over confusing disarray with Choi Young assisting her by holding the light up close.
"Here." She got up without a warning and addressed the master unceremoniously, "you are the father, I presume. So since you are the guardian, I can explain it in detail." The teacher immediately stood up deferentially with Jae Su hovering behind.
Choi Young shook his head in embarrassment and probably blushed, if anybody could notice in the darkness. This was not the kind of greeting he wanted her to give his master. All of her training about etiquette went out the window the moment Eun Soo was comfortably in her professional role. "Imja," he pulled her sleeve, shooting her a look, but she did not even bother. Her eyes were shining with the kind of zealous excitement he had only seen her show at work.
"It's probably a poisoning by isoxazole derivatives, either muscimol or ibotenic acid. Atropin is not indicated in such cases. Somnolence and coma- like sleep are quite common and can last up to 24 hours. The recovery is spontaneous and without long term effects." She read out clearly annunciating from her paper. When she looked up she met three pairs of completely bewildered and absolutely without any glimmer of understanding eyes. "Fairy language," mumbled completely enchanted Jae Su, while master only nodded, acknowledging that she had said something apparently meaningful.
"Eun Soo-ya," Choi Young coughed nervously, "can you please say it in normal language."
"Ah, yes. Looks like she ate some poisonous mushrooms. It made her fall asleep and now all we can do is wait."
"Thank you," Said the patient's father, sitting down again, followed by Jae Su, who grinned proudly, since he was the one who knew the secret of the magical healing offered by the fairy. He was dying to tell the master, but kept his word.
"This is my wife," formally introduced her Choi Young at last. The master looked over her with curiosity, with Eun Soo studying him in return.
"I wish we did not have to meet under such circumstances," she said. "I'm very glad to meet you."
So this is the man who held such high regard in Choi Young's eyes. Eun Soo smiled unnoticeably. When Daejang spoke of his teacher, it was always with great admiration and great sadness about the loss. Yet, he was right in front of her eyes, alive and well, and she felt his strong presence, which offered comfort and safety. Just like her husband, he projected quiet warrior strength.
Eun Soo looked at Choi Young: even if his posture was always impeccable, she could feel the unbearable burden of responsibility crushing his shoulders. She somehow managed to meet all of the important people in Choi Young's life; and she was struck by a simple notion - if he would not intervene, they would all vanish, taken by cruel and painful deaths. She had no counsel for him: what to do and how to go about it. Suddenly her heart overflowed with love and compassion, and disregarding the presence of strangers, she took his hand. Choi Young held it firmly and did not scold her for breaking yet another rule of Goryeo era. Her healing touch worked on him like magic, her KI caressed him gently, and as the warrior glanced at her, despite the lonely decision he had to make, Choi Young's grateful heart reasserted he was not walking alone the difficult path that destiny laid for him.