Before I knew it, the day which had seemed impossibly far away was upon us, and I was preparing to meet Soo-Won for our trip to the capital. I took one last look in the mirror before I left. Truthfully, I would have preferred to dress up for the occasion, but Soo-Won had instructed me to don my plainest dress to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. Oh well, it's not like it really matters what he thinks of my appearance anyways, I tried to convince myself as I tripped lightly down the stairs.

He was waiting for me in the drabbest robe and hood I had ever seen him in. He looked so out of place with his noble features and glorious mane of golden hair that I couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"What? Is it that bad?" he asked with mock hurt in his tone.

"Sorry," I struggled to control myself, "you look fine…really."

I burst into laughter once again, and he joined me good naturedly. Taking my hand, he said, "This way."

"Where's Hak?" I asked as we walked.

"He's not coming," he replied without stopping or turning around.

"Who's escorting us then?" I asked in confusion.

He finally stopped and looked at me. "No one, Lily. I want it to be just the two of us."

I could feel the color rising in my cheeks. "B-But is that really alright? What did Hak say?"

Soo-Won's face said it all. I sighed and said, "You didn't tell him, did you?"

He shook his head and grinned impishly. I couldn't help thinking that he looked very much like a naughty little boy who had just run away from his schoolmaster.

"Come on," he said as he started walking again, "it'll be fine."

"Eh? But the gate is the other way, isn't it?"

"Lily," he answered patiently, "there's no way we will make it past the guards at the gate without alerting the whole palace. There's another way." He led me through a cluster of bushes and stopped at the base of an old, twisted oak tree.

I tilted my head back to look. "That branch there," he pointed as he spoke, "stretches across the wall and practically touches a branch from another tree on the other side. It's simple to climb up one, cross over, and then climb down the other. I did it all the time when I was younger," he explained.

"I see…," I said, trying to hide my smile as I pictured young Soo-Won shimmying up the tree to escape the confinement of the palace.

"Ah!" he said suddenly. "I completely forgot. Are you alright with climbing trees? If not, I can…"

"I'm fine," I interrupted. "I climbed them all the time when I was a girl. In fact, I was better at it than most of the boys in my village," I said proudly.

He smiled. "Alright then. I'm looking forward to seeing it." I couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, but either way I was determined to impress him.

He boosted me up, and I began to climb. It was more difficult than I had remembered, and I was panting by the time I made it the top.

"Are you all right?" he called from below. "Maybe you should wait for me to cross. I'll just be a second…"

For some reason, my innate stubbornness reared its head at that moment. Completely ignoring his words, my body seemed to move on its own as I took a deep breath and made a running jump. I was fine on distance, but I realized too late that I had gained too much momentum and couldn't control my landing. My arms waved like windmills as I struggled to keep my balance. I made a desperate lunge for the trunk of the tree, and clung to it with all my might, too scared to move or even look down.

"Lily!" I heard the leaves rustle, and in a matter of seconds Soo-Won was standing where I had been just a moment before. "Are you alright?" he asked anxiously.

Realizing how ridiculous I must look, I swiftly loosened my grip on the tree and turned around to face him.

"Y-Yes," I bluffed, hoping he couldn't see how much I was shaking. "I'm fine."

He shook his head in disbelief. "As expected of you, Lily. I've never seen anyone just run and jump across like that. You really are something."

His comment made me forget my fear. "You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"No, not at all," he assured me quickly. "Although it was a bit reckless, you were brilliant."

"I see…," I answered slowly, still not convinced.

"Alrighty," he said, "I'm going to come over now, so step back just a bit please."

I obeyed and watched breathlessly as he walked out on the increasingly small branch. He appeared to be steady, but I still couldn't keep myself from feeling nervous. "Be careful!" I cried.

He raised his hand in acknowledgement, and in one motion jumped effortlessly across the synapse between the two branches. My heart stopped and didn't start beating again until he was safely on the other side.

"Well, are you about ready to start the climb down?" he asked after a moment.

I nodded and carefully followed him down the tree. We finally reached the lowest branch and Soo-Won swung lithely to the ground. I prepared to jump too as I eyeballed the distance. I was fairly high up, yet I felt no fear. Leaping from branch to branch like a wild animal was one thing, but I could handle this. I had done it countless times when I was younger, and my poor mother had spent most of her waking hours mending my dresses because of it. I touched my necklace involuntarily at the memory.

My thoughts were interrupted by Soo-Won calling my name. I looked down to see him standing with his arms raised towards me.

"Jump!" he called. "I'll catch you!"

I was completely taken aback. "You'll really catch me?" I asked skeptically, as I envisioned myself missing his arms completely and plummeting spectacularly to the ground.

"Of course," he replied confidently.

It was strange. Even though I knew that he was not a reliable person, for some reason I couldn't help but trust him at times like this.

"Alright," I yelled down, "I'm jumping, so you'd better not drop me."

I closed my eyes tightly as I lost contact with the sturdy branch and fell freely through the air. When I opened them, I was being held like a baby by Soo-Won. I tried to keep myself from noticing how strong and secure his arms felt as I scrambled quickly to the ground.

"Told you I'd catch you," he said smugly.

"Whatever," I feigned indifference as I began walking. "Let's just go already."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that he was smiling as he quickly caught up to me and we headed down the hill to the capital together.