Chapter 7: The Kingdom of Goryeo Part I

Author's Notes: First, sorry for the very long time update. But I've been busy working on a game project so I really do apologize for the long delay. I'm still really busy so I have decided to cut the chapters into small parts so I can write updates little by little.

Anyway, starting from Chapter 7 I will be writing some historical facts at the end of a chapter so people can have a background on the characters. Please note that the story will not unfold the same as history since this is a time travel story which means a lot in history has been altered (and also this is a fantasy story).

edits: Changed Pyongyang to Seogyeong to be consistent with the use of names during the Goryeo period.

...

"Whatever you are thinking of doing, it's a bad idea." Eun Soo was on top of the hospital building panting as she had just walked about seven floors worth of stairs. The child had climed over one of the walls of the hospital roof deck and was sitting on it casually as if the height was something he can jump over easily. The hospital had eleven floors.

She had just heard about the boy's sister. As the parents where still a no show, she had wondered about where the boy had gone. After asking questions about him to almost every personnel she met, she managed to to get information from an intern that she had seen a lone child climbing up the stairs. The intern had tried to go after him as it was already very late at night but the child had disappeared so fast and she had patients to take care of.

Eun Soo had felt uneasy. The impasive look on his face as the man berated him on the hallway haunted her. No child should have that kind of expression. Before realizing what she was doing, she had climbed the stairs to the roof deck.

The child looked back to face her. The lack of emotion on his face made Eun Soo's heart race in fear. Why did this have to happen to her? Should she just call 119? It seems that no one in the hospital had noticed that they had a possible jumper. She wanted to call for help but at the same time she was afraid to alarm the child and hasten his decision. If this child died would it be her fault? She cursed her stars for making her so unlucky. She had always loved astronomy since she was a kid, but it seemed the stars had no love for her at all, curse them.

Talk. She had minored in psychology and she remembered that in these instances talking should be the best way to go. "Hey kid, how old are you?"

The child turned his back on her and she thought her heart would jump off her chest. But he continued sitting on the wall calmly.

"I'm going to come near. I just want to talk okay." Eun Soo said, trying to sound calm. She thought she saw the boy shrug and so she walked towards him slowly. Then she was standing beside where he sat and she was tempted to try and haul him back in. But both his feet were on the otherside and she was not very strong. If he struggled, he might slip from her grasp and fall.

"I'm eleven." The boy said unexpectedly. Eun Soo just stood beside him, ready to spring into motion just in case he thought of jumping off. He was much older than she first thought but still merely a child.

"So, do you have anything you want to talk about?" Eun Soo eyed him apprehensively as he continued to stare into the distance.

"Not really." But he turned to face her. "She's gone."

Eun Soo's heart bled for him. She wanted to tell him she was sorry but she knew the words would just sound empty and it clearly was not something he wanted to hear. "I heard about your sister."

This time he gazed up into the sky. "She still would have died you know, even without the car accident. She had lymphoma and the treatments were not working."

"Your parents would be really worried about you right now." Eun Soo started leaning forward on the wall, although she was still alert to any of his movements.

"I'm sure they're fine." He didn't scoff nor did he sound sad about it. "They are not my birth parents. I'm just one of their foster children."

"And your sister?" She didn't want to pry but she was genuinely curious.

"She was my real sister." He answered with no hesitation. "I just wanted her to live. That was all I ever wanted. But in the end she was just suffering for me. And even then I didn't want to let her go."

The girl was just twenty-one. Eun Soo had read her records and found out that her husband who was twenty-five, had died on the spot during the accident.

"She fought to live because she loved you. And she knew you loved her which is why you didn't want to let her go. There is nothing wrong with that. She would not have wanted to make you feel guilty about it." Eun Soo's tone was matter-of-fact, like it was something anyone would have figured out.

There was actually amusement in his eyes as he looked at her. For a child of eleven he seemed so mature. He was like an old man in a child's body. "My sister's husband was a researcher for a huge company who was developing a cure for cancer cells. She married him for a chance to be in the program. Guilty? We were past that point a long time ago. The people who suffered just so we can live, I have ceased to count."

Eun Soo didn't really know what he was talking about or how bad the situation he had been through, but she understood what he felt at the moment. "No you are not past it." The child looked surprised at her words."If you were, you would not be sitting where you are right now."

"Can't I be here because I just lost my sister and the only reason for me to live in this world?" He was still looking at Eun Soo with an incredulous expression on his face.

"If that were the case I would have found you on the pavement instead of here." Eun Soo knew she was taking a risk with her words but for some reason she was confident the child would be too curious about what she meant than to jump off.

And she was right. He looked at her as if he wanted to hear more of her thoughts. "You feel guilty about all the things you have done to save your sister. Now, I have no idea what it is you have to feel guilty about or if you should feel guilty about it, but I know that you do. Now that she is gone, you think that the only way to make up for it is to die as well. But you know your sister want you to live and so you are sitting here contemplating about it."

"I begged her to live and she fought really hard to do so. But she made me promise that in return, if she died, I would continue to live." There was suddenly anger in his eyes as he looked at Eun Soo. "Isn't that unfair? I fought hard along side with her. But she's gone, so why should I have to keep such promise?"

"Because you feel guilty." Eun Soo answered.

"Isn't that just another reason to die?"

"No." Eun Soo looked at him with a smile this time. "If you feel that guilty then you need to start by righting the wrongs that you have done. If you die, then the people who had suffered to get you to this point would have suffered needlessly. Don't you think you are just running away?"

Then she offered her hand to him, her smile shining brighter than ever."The world is full of suffering. But people still choose to live because... because there are still plenty of beautiful things in this world. These things you cannot appreciate while there is still guilt in your heart. Your sister wanted to give you a chance to see this beautiful world. So until you do, you cannot give up."

He coudn't resist the hand she offered. The moment he took her hand Eun Soo felt overwhelmed with relief.

...

Eun Soo opened her eyes and found herself looking up at the ceiling of the small shack. Why her dreams would suddenly conjure those memories made her confused. It was an incident that she had not forgotten of course. As a surgeon she was used to people who asked for her help because they wanted to live. She was not really used to meeting people who wanted to die.

She turned to face the person beside her. They were lying close together on the small sofa bed covered by a blanket. Choi Young was lying on his left side facing her with his right arm flung over her. Eun Soo's heart ached as she watched his sleeping face. Her heart ached at everything he'd had to endure in his life. She remembered the time when he too had just wanted to die. She wanted him to experience the joys of living. Not cause him more pain. Sometimes she wished she was someone born in his time, just a normal Goryeo woman. But then would he have looked at her? Would she have been given the chance to get closer to him?

Judging by his heavy breathing he seemed to be deep asleep. She wondered if he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. She had noticed that he had been a bit weary these past couple of days. She'd had a hard time sleeping too. Sometimes she was afraid to sleep, she was afraid to wake up and find that everything had just been a dream. Or that she was still back a hundred years away from his time.

Eun Soo sighed. They had finally found each other again but the scars of their separation had not completely healed yet. And now, they were facing another kind of trouble.

She was about to check the time when she realized she wasn't wearing her watch. She slowly removed Choi Young's arm to pick up her shirt from the floor and with just her shirt on she went to the table where she had placed her watch. It was 5:30 a.m. She had asked Choi Young about the portal and he'd told her it would open at sunrise and would stay open for five hours. They still had plenty of time.

She turned to look towards Choi Young again and found him awake, he had sat up and was looking at her. She gave him a smile as she walked back towards him. He never took his gaze off her. She pushed him back down on the sofa bed and then laid back down beside him, pulling the blanket over them as they lay on their sides facing each other. "It's still early, get some more rest."

But Choi Young was looking at her curiously as if trying to read her thoughts. Then he raised a hand to trace a line over her left cheek. "What are you going to tell your parents?"

"I already left them a note, telling them everything." She said while smiling at him reassuringly. "They probably wont believe everything but I'm sure they understand that I'm going away with you."

Choi Young's answering smile was self-deprecating. "I don't want them to think I've kidnapped you. Again." He said the last word with a small sigh while placing his hand back down.

Eun Soo gave a small laugh. "There you are worrying again. If you worry too much you'll get constipation." Then she turned serious. "Eomma will understand, I'm sure of it. She made me promise never to let you go."

Choi Young looked at her curiously, but when she refused to say anything else he let it slide. They will have to go back to Goryeo soon. They will be entering a country at war where even if there were no assassins after her life, she would still not be safe. He still grew anxious at the thought of bringing her to such a dangerous place.

But last night he had decided to let his hopes win over his fears. What Taizu had said were merely possibilities and not a foregone conclusion. And if Eun Soo was willing to fight then he too must not give up.

He took Eun Soo's left hand and brought it to his lips. "I swear I will protect you this time. I haven't really done a good job at it so far, but I will make sure no more harm comes to you."

He'd expected her to either accept his vow or voice out an argument, however, instead she pulled her hand away from his grasp and laid her head on his shoulder, avoiding his eyes.

A sprinkle of unease rose up from Choi Young's heart. As he could not see her eyes to gauge her thoughts, the feeling of unease quickly grew. He wanted to force her head up to look at him but he didn't do such thing.

"I promise to do my best not be much of a burden." Eun Soo finally managed to get the words out. She hated the fact that all of his worries about her safety were not unfounded. Taizu had warned her. Even if she decided to lay low or fake her identity, powerful assassins will be looking for her. And she had no means of fighting back. She had no swordsmanship skills and she never tried to learn any form of martial arts. She was totally helpless by herself. And she hated it. If she had been a fighter she would have been able to stand beside Choi Young without him worrying too much about her safety. She wished there was something more she could do.

But had Eun Soo been able to read Choi Young's thoughts she would have changed her views.

The moment Eun Soo spoke, an image of Mae Hee had flittered into Choi Young's mind. He couldn't remember much of what she looked like anymore but the events of that day was still clear in his head.

"I'm going to be a burden." That's what Mae Hee had said as he begged her to trust him.

"Please be a burden." He had pleaded with her. "If I have you as a burden, then I will be able to live on. Mae Hee, if you can be my burden, then I can laugh while I live."

A few days later he found Mae Hee hanging on a tree after having taken her own life. He had thought over and over again on what he could have said to persuade her more. Did she not hear? Did she not believe? Or did his words just not mattered?

"I have to protect the King as well as the kingdom of Goryeo, I really cannot bear any more burden than that."

The words he had said to Eun Soo echoed in his mind making him feel like vomiting. How he wished he could take them back.

"Because if I go with you I will just be a burden that you don't want to carry." Eun Soo had asked him.

"Yes."

He had not meant it of course. Still he had said those words. And yet... Eun Soo still fought to be with him. He wanted her to know how sorry he was for saying those words. And that he never meant them. And that he would gladly have her as burden for the rest of his life if she would accept him. But the words would not come out. He was too choked up to speak.

So instead he drew Eun Soo closer to him and held her tighter and tighter in his arms. After awhile his throat cleared up enough for him to speak.

"Please be my burden forever." Were the only words he could manage to get out.

But Eun Soo understood. Tears of happiness fell from her eyes at his words. And yet she was not the type who could gladly accept being someones burden. It wasn't that she didn't trust him to protect her, because she knew he definitely could do that. But she was someone who could not just passively accept protection.

So she raised her head to look him in the eyes. "In one condition." she said.

Choi Young was so relieved at the smile in her eyes that he almost didn't catch her words.

"Be my burden as well." Eun Soo continued.

A few years ago Choi Young would have been shocked by her words but he had gotten used to her stubborn and independent ways that her condition made him smile instead. However, he also knew she was good at her word and he would probably regret agreeing to it in the future so he gave a condition of his own. "As long as it doesn't involve risking your safety."

She actually scowled at that. "Are you going to make the same promise?"

This time Choi Young couldn't help scoffing. "Of course not. I'm a warrior. What good am I if I don't take risks?" But then his smile softened. "But Imja, you are a healer. In that aspect I will gladly place my life in your hands."

Eun Soo's brows furrowed. "I sure hope I don't find you in my care too much."

Choi Young couldn't help laughing. "I'll do my best not to be too much of a burden to you."

Eun Soo drew her left fist to punch his shoulder but Choi Young who was used to her reaction caught her wrist and instead pinned it down beside her head, half of his body rising up so he could look down at her.

Eun Soo's breath caught in her throat seeing as his face hovered near her own. Her eyes met his and she saw the laughter that had shone in them was gone. Instead it was replaced by a burning flame which made Eun Soo's heart beat faster and faster.

Slowly Choi Young lowered his head until his lips captured hers in a gentle kiss, their lips barely touching. Eun Soo gasped as his lips met hers, not realizing that she had been holding her breath. The moment her lips parted something seemed to ignite inside Choi Young and the kiss deepened. He kissed her as if he could not get enough of her, his lips devouring hers as if he had suddenly been allowed to partake in something that had been denied to him for a long time.

Eun Soo answered each kiss with the same amount of fervor, both her hands clutching at his shoulders as she kissed him back.

At the moment, there were no more secrets between them. They both knew what was in store for them in the future and they were both willing to tread on it together. The future might be bleaker than what they had imagined but for now they had faith.