4

A Friend May Be Waiting Behind a Stranger's Face

Danho stared at the woman.

"Yeo-Wool? You… you know him?"

"About the only man who lives on the premises? Yes, I know about him, the girl I'm staying with told me."

"So that means…" Danho began cautiously, still not completely sure on what this woman thought she knew. "That means you know…"

"Yah, if he's happy and you're happy, who am I to judge? Also, it's none of my business. So once again I'm asking you…" She took a step closer to Danho who was still digesting how undeterred this woman seemed about him and Yeo-Wool's relationship. "…why did you want to kill me?"

"Kill you? I don't even know your name! It's just…" Danho hesitated; it was a strange feeling, actually talking out loud to someone who knew his secret. "…not many people know about my… activities after work and I would prefer it stayed that way."

For two whole seconds – it felt much longer to Danho as he waited in anticipation for the woman's response – she just stared at him.

And then she whacked the back of his head.

"Ow! Wha –?!"

"THIS is the reason I had to waste so much energy so early in the day?" She yelled exasperatedly and slapped his shoulder this time. "I, Lady Kim, have more important things to do than talk to people about you. Crazy guy…"

She then walked away, leaving Danho behind shaking his head.

What was that...?

The strange feeling within Danho when he was talking to the woman, now presented itself as something else… something he hadn't felt before.

Exhilaration. Freedom. Both of which he found himself wanting more.

Nice to meet you, Lady Kim…

x-X-x

Nokdu scurried to the Kisaeng house, feeling confused. He wasn't sure what the man Danho's intentions were or why he sought him out but for now he had bigger problems. Up ahead, he spotted Hwa Soo who was animatedly talking to the other women.

"I heard the man who broke into the village was hiding in the Kisaeng House last night," Nokdu heard her say as he got closer and all the gathered women let out gasps of shock and surprise. He snuck into the front between two other women and put on his best surprised face.

"Oh my! Really?" Nokdu said in the breathiest voice he could and several others nodded in response.

"Yes, it's true!" Hwa Soo explained, her pretty eyes expressive. "But don't worry, Madam Cheon and the Administrator are passing around a sketch so we can all keep an eye out and catch him sooner," she added, reassuringly. Nokdu cleared his throat.

"A s-sketch?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound too nervous; he had nearly forgotten about that. Nokdu suddenly felt a hand grab his wrist and spun around to see Dongju glaring at him.

"I thought I told you not to go anywhere without me," she growled under her breath.

"I wasn't –" Nokdu began to protest but Dongju interrupted him, addressing Hwa Soo.

"Excuse us," she said simply with a plastered smile. "Lady Kim and I have some work to do together." Dongju then dragged Nokdu away from the crowd and once they were beyond earshot, she turned to him. "What were you doing with those women? Were you hoping to get lucky or something?"

"Do you really think I'm that kind of man?" Nokdu asked, slightly hurt by her allegation. Dongju didn't respond, waiting till they arrived at their room before she lightly shoved him in. Nokdu was about to protest again till he saw what she had brought him there for.

Before him was a table laden with bowls of rice, soup and an entire assortment of side dishes.

"Wah, you made breakfast for me?" Nokdu exclaimed.

"Don't flatter yourself," Dongju grumbled and sat at the table. "This was being served to everyone today."

Nokdu thought everything looked perfect but it was the seaweed soup that really caught his attention. He instantly sat down at the table, beaming at what was before him.

"I believe you," He smirked, as he began to spoon the soup into his mouth. "Because there's no way you could have known it was my birthday today."

Dongju blinked. "It's… your birthday today?"

"Yes," Nokdu responded, thoroughly enjoying his meal as he spoke between mouthfuls. "That's the only thing that my father told me about my birth," he added, not caring that he was giving away more information than she had asked for while he was supposed to be undercover. Something about her told him he could trust her, especially seeing as she appeared to be keeping secrets herself.

Halfway through their meal, the door slid open and a little girl's head peeped in.

"Eonni, it's time for dance practice," she addressed Dongju, who looked bored at the thought of it.

"Tell Madam Cheon I'm coming," she responded and the girl scurried off. Nokdu slowly turned to look at Dongju.

"Dance lessons, huh?"

"As an apprentice at the Kisaeng House, it's something the girls are trained to do," Dongju muttered and stood up. "Let's go."

"Wait, what?"

"I just found out you're a man dressed as a woman in a place full of women. If you think I'm letting you out of my sight, you're an idiot."

A short while later, Nokdu found himself smiling as he watched the dance lessons in progress from behind a pot of cherry blossoms. He noticed that Dongju seemed to be the oldest amongst the group of very young girls and also the one who seemed to be fumbling the most, particularly with the fan dance.

"Alright, that's enough," he heard Madam Cheon's voice and saw her gesture towards Dongju to follow her. Nokdu took this as his chance to slip away and headed back towards where the kisaengs were gathered again.

Before he approached them, he waited and watched; they were now passing around the sketch of the man everyone was looking for.

"It's unfortunate he's a bad man, he's quite handsome," he heard Hwa Soo grumble and Nokdu couldn't help but crack a smile as she had unwittingly complimented him. "Why does he look so familiar, though?" She added and that's when Nokdu began to worry again.

Even from a distance, he could tell the drawing resembled him quite closely and he needed to do something to throw them off or at the very least, buy some time.

It was time to bring out his storytelling skills.

x-X-x

Kim Ssook was always serious when it came to her work. And once she and her Muwoldan team members had a mission, she made sure everyone did their best to succeed.

It had been quite a while since she had come to the Widow Village, having been rescued by Madam Cheon herself just as her relatives had been on the verge of killing her after her husband died few days after their wedding. For the honor of the family, they had said, which was amusing to Kim Ssook more so since she barely knew the man.

Her passion and extensive training earned her a spot on the Muwoldan, the women in charge of protecting and rescuing other widows like themselves who needed help. On occasion, they got special missions from someone in the palace as they had the skills for getting things done discreetly.

Finding the man who had broken into the Kisaeng House ended up being one of those missions – they had been given a sketch with instructions to capture him. She wasn't sure about the reasons but that was nothing new considering they usually did their jobs no questions asked.

"We need to find him soon," Kim Ssook said firmly as she and two of her fellow Muwoldan along with Min Deul-re who was still limping, walked out of the distillery. "Knowing what he looks like should be of some help anyway." She stopped just as a bunch of the kisaengs walked past them talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"I heard she saw the man who broke into the village face to face."

"It seems she fought him off herself!"

"What a brave woman. I would have been frightened!'

As the group walked past the four Muwoldan women, they paused to look at each other in surprise. Kim Ssook with the first one to speak.

"Someone saw him?"

x-X-x

"Oh, it hurts," Nokdu cried, putting on his best whiny voice as he displayed a cut on his arm – that he had given himself a short while ago – to the crowd that had now gathered around him. Many of the kisaengs as well as the Yeolnyeodan women were there watching him in worry.

"Oh no..."

"What a terrible thing to happen!"

"Yes, it really took me by surprise," Nokdu continued, when he saw the Muwoldan join the group. He spotted Min Deul-re, the woman he had followed here looking at him strangely; he tried his best to be unaffected and went on with his story.

"The man jumped out of nowhere and tried to attack me but I sure showed him," Nokdu narrated, using his other hand to mimic his fighting action. "I used his own sword against him and gave him a cut on his face."

"Oh!" Many of the women gasped and one of the Yeolnyeodan commented, "He attacked a widow? This must be the same man who tried to break into the village the last time!"

"Yeah!" Many voices went around agreeing with her and Nokdu swallowed.

"Erm, yes and now he has a big scar on his face which will make it easier to find him!" He took the sketch from Hwa Soo, noting that Min Deul-re was still looking between him and the sketch suspiciously. "Here," he added, marking a scar across the right eye and modifying the nose slightly. Kang Soon-nyeo, the leader of the Yeolnyeodan, took the sketch from Nokdu and looked at him in awe.

"Wow, Kim Gwabonim, you're quite resourceful. I always had a good feeling about you!" She patted Nokdu on the back and he nearly choked. "We've got work to do right now but when we get back, we can discuss your future position in the Yeolnyeodan with us!" She said, beaming at him.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm good," Nokdu started.

"Let's go!" She ordered and the two other women with her headed off. The crowd began to disperse and Nokdu ended up walking out with the Muwoldan women, making sure to avoid eye contact with Min Deul-re.

It wasn't a coincidence; Nokdu had concluded that the Muwoldan were the closest route to finding out about who gave the order to hurt him and his family. And if he planned to infiltrate the team and search for the truth himself, he knew he had to befriend them despite the risk of Min Deul-re recognizing him. He cleared his throat and looked at the women.

"So, where are you all off to?" He asked casually and An Jung-Sook, the more talkative one, responded instantly.

"To look for that vulgar yahoo –" she started but Kim Ssook elbowed her and turned to Nokdu.

"We were just going to get some firewood," she explained. Nokdu knew they weren't exactly going to open up to him immediately and figured he might as well use this as a chance to earn their trust.

"Let me help," he offered, leaving them with no reason to disagree. He walked ahead but overheard Min Deul-re insist that she would instead go get a head start on their search for the missing man. Nokdu couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that she wouldn't be joining them.

A short while later he was chopping wood in the forest for them to take back to the village. The dress was restricting his movements while using the axe but he actually felt good doing physical labor; he felt more like himself again, allowing himself to forget for just a moment that he was currently living as a widow in a kisaeng house.

Nokdu was so focused on his work he didn't realize that the other women had stopped what they're doing and were now staring at him.

"You're really good at this, Lady Kim," the shorter one No Yeon-boon commented, her mouth slightly open.

"Yeah, such strong arms," An Jung-Sook added before clearing her throat. Nokdu laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'll just get some more wood from the other side," he said and slowly walked away, hoping they hadn't caught on to his casual display of strength. He wasn't too far out when he heard the women talking about him.

"She's strong. We should consider getting her on the team."

Nokdu stilled in his tracks, knowing the women were probably looking to Kim Ssook to respond. He waited anxiously as she finally said a single word that gave him hope for getting closer to his goal.

"Maybe."

Nokdu smiled to himself and walked towards a particularly sturdy looking tree, feeling more confident than ever after that. He used all his strength and took a big swing at the tree, which was immediately followed by a large ripping noise… one that wasn't coming from the tree.

Oh no…

x-X-x

Danho walked through the woods, keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious; he wasn't sure why he had been asked to find the mystery man everyone seemed to be looking for.

Wasn't the Prince getting a little too protective of the Kisaeng House?

His friend may have had his motives to look out for the place but Danho was a professional when it came to his orders; he didn't need to be told twice and was accustomed to the bigger details being kept from him.

He honestly didn't care as long as he completed his missions.

He knew there were stories about him going around the palace; tales of him being a cold-hearted assassin with knife skills to die for, rumors about the number of people he had discreetly killed following orders from men in high places and most famously his unabashed loyalty towards Prince Neungyang, known to the public as Lord Cha Yulmu.

He also knew the word 'loyalty' was often interchanged with 'being a pushover' depending on who was talking about him but he didn't let that bother him.

Anything as long as his secret life was unknown to the world, he could deal with.

That strangely brought Lady Kim to his mind… and not for the first time that day. He couldn't tell what to make of the fact that she was in his thoughts this often.

He walked at a leisurely pace along the muddy path in the woods with his hands folded behind his back and idly began to wonder what Lady Kim was doing right now when he suddenly caught a loud rustle in the foliage ahead of him.

"Who's there?" He asked, fully alert with a hand on his sword and ready to fight if he needed to. The rustling immediately stopped and to his shock, Lady Kim's face popped up from behind the bushes.

"Park Danho?" She looked surprised herself for a moment before her face turned to horror and she screamed in her husky voice.

"Look away!"

Danho instantly had his palm covering his eyes as he turned to face the opposite direction.

"Kim Gwabo? Is that you?" He was mildly surprised at the hint of worry in his own voice. "Are you alright?" When there was no response, he began to turn slightly and instantly heard from her.

"Don't look at me!" She yelled and he stood still until he heard her speak again, this time in a small voice. "Park Danho… I need your help."

He frowned and wondered what kind of trouble she was in.

"What happened to you?" He asked. "Why are you out here…looking like tha–"

"You looked?" Her voice went higher, yet somehow sounded lower.

Danho didn't want to lie to her but he did see her long enough to know she wasn't dressed fully.

"My apologies, Lady Kim," he began. "I promise I didn't see anything but I could tell you were having… some trouble with your clothing…"

"What!" She squealed again. "Argh, the nerve of this guy…" Danho could hear her grumbling. "I need you to give me your coat."

"Mwo? Why would I do that?" He smirked. "And what is it I will get in return?" His voice took on a teasing tone, shocking even himself.

Am I flirting with this woman?

He could hear Lady Kim scoff at his words.

"A very grateful lady is what you will get. Just… give it to me, please," she repeated.

"Alright I will," he agreed, tilting his head. "But you need to tell me what happened first." He heard the sound of her clearing her throat before she spoke again.

"I was… I was cutting firewood and tore my clothes when I stretched," she said sheepishly.

Danho snorted and suddenly burst into laughter.

"It's not funny!" She scolded, her voice annoyed now. Danho was still smiling but began to shrug off his coat for her, when he heard voices in the distance.

Someone was calling for Lady Kim.

"Give me your coat!" He heard her whisper urgently but the voices were too close.

"There's no time, run!"

"What?!"

"There's a pond a little further where I came from. Go there and jump in!"

"But –"

"Just do it!" Danho hissed and turned away as Lady Kim flashed past him in a white and pink blur, just in time as the other women from the Widow village came into his view. As expected, they looked at him suspiciously and one of the shorter women who he recognized as Kim Ssook came forward.

"Park Danho," she said slowly, watching him carefully. "What are you doing here?"

Danho narrowed his eyes at her, his laughter long gone and replaced with the emotionless warrior face that he had on most of the time. Even the people at the palace were wary of him; some even referred to him as the man who never smiled. He was momentarily amused by the thought that the last time he smiled at someone it was Lady Kim.

What was it about this woman that fascinated him so much?

He flippantly glanced at the other two women on either side of Kim Ssook; they looked familiar but he couldn't recollect their names.

"This isn't part of the Widow Village," Danho scoffed. "There's nothing wrong with me being here." Kim Ssook stared at him for a moment before responding.

"Did another Widow pass by here? She's new and she may not know her way –"

"I know who Lady Kim is –" Danho started to speak almost defiantly when a loud splash was heard in the distance. He saw all three of their heads turn in the direction of the noise.

"Kim Gwabonim!" One of them called out and they ran together towards the river.

He hoped she wouldn't be too embarrassed; he wished to help but had to admit these women could probably assist Lady Kim better with whatever problem it was.

x-X-x

Nokdu almost cursed when he jumped into the river and caused a big splash. He wasn't sure what he was going to do but he knew he couldn't ask the women for help with his torn garments without giving away his identity – or the fact the he was actually a man.

"Kim Gwabonim!" A voice came from the rocky ledge above him; he knew the women would spot him soon and that he'd have to come up with a reasonable explanation for why he had suddenly decided to take a swim.

The water came up to his chest; in hindsight, Danho's suggestion to jump into the river despite not knowing Nokdu's predicament, was actually a great idea. Just then, three faces popped up from the rocks and he saw them looking at him in confusion.

"Lady Kim?" Kim Ssook frowned. Nokdu smiled awkwardly, making sure his body was under the water at all times and nodded at them.

"This water just looked so inviting I had to take a dip," Nokdu started to explain with his sweetest voice. "You go ahead, I'll return afterwards with the rest of the firewood."

He watched as they exchanged glances with each other and nodded in agreement.

"Just be watchful, there may be men around," An Jung-Sook warned as the others stepped out of view. "We just ran into one of them wandering the woods before finding you."

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," Nokdu insisted with a plastered smile, wishing they would leave. Thankfully they did, leaving him a moment to think about what to do next.

"Lady Kim?" Nokdu heard a voice and nearly jumped, realizing a second later that he recognized that deep, low tone.

"You! What are you still doing here?" Nokdu looked away and plunged his shoulders back under the water.

"I thought you'd like that coat now."

Nokdu sighed; Danho was right. He slowly turned, making sure he was still neck-deep in the water and looked up to see the swordsman standing dangerously close to the tip of the ledge with his hand extended, holding out his coat.

"Yah, YAH, don't stand there it's slipp–" Nokdu's response was so impulsive he forgot to speak in his Lady Kim voice, but he didn't get a chance to worry about revealing his identity as his words were overshadowed by the sound of a big splash.

x-X-x

Danho was more than pleasantly surprised at the turn of events in his day. He hadn't imagined this morning that later that day he would be sunbathing on the rocky banks of a river.

And he most definitely hadn't pictured doing it alongside a woman who seemed more intriguing the longer he spent time with her.

I can't believe I fell into the water…

In hindsight, how he managed to lose his footing and fall while handing over his coat to Lady Kim seemed so ridiculous. She was startled at first but became calm once he gave her his coat. By the end of it, since both of them were completely drenched anyway, they had decided to air their clothes out a bit before heading back… which is what led them to where they were right now.

Danho sat up with his palms to the side and his legs stretched out on the flat rock, his bare chest glistening as he left his shirt undone to speed up the drying process. He was hesitant at first being this exposed in front of a woman but Lady Kim didn't seem to be bothered at all by it.

Park Danho knew he was a good-looking man; he was reminded more often than not by many women at the Kisaeng house on a regular basis. They would try to woo him by complimenting his "beautiful eyes" and "strong shoulders", sometimes even commenting on his "long, long legs."

If only they knew they were barking up the wrong tree; Danho was clear about who he was and their actions had no impact on him to the point he had simply gotten accustomed to it.

And yet, the fact that Lady Kim seemed to be this comfortable around him with absolutely no signs of getting flustered… he had to admit there was a part of him that was disappointed at that fact and he couldn't explain why.

He was aware there was a fair chance her relaxed composure was because she knew the truth about him; that she was in absolutely no danger of being hit on by him. Either that or she genuinely wasn't affected by him at all.

He slowly looked to his side to sneak a glance at her. She was lying back on the rock with his cobalt coat wrapped tightly around her shoulders since her hanbok had been damaged.

Her eyes were closed and there was a hint of a smile on her face; she seemed to be enjoying the feel of the sun's rays on her smooth skin. Her wet hair had been roughly tied back in a high knot but her loose damp bangs fell over her forehead in the most endearing way. Danho couldn't help but notice Lady Kim's skin again; it really was flawless and glowed in the soft daylight, bringing out her plump pink lips perfectly in contrast against it.

Wait… what was going on?

Danho blinked and Lady Kim stretched, which for some reason made his throat go dry.

Am I… attracted to her?

x-X-x

Nokdu loved the water; he had grown up on the beach-side but it was only after coming to the Widow Village that he truly realized how much he missed it. The ocean was too far away to visit often now but the cool streams and rivers that flowed through the woods just about made up for it.

However, falling into a river for cover wasn't exactly how he had planned to enjoy the water. He had been left with no choice though, as he couldn't risk his ripped outfit revealing himself to the women from the village, especially the Muwoldan.

He sincerely hoped Park Danho hadn't noticed anything either. Although Nokdu had gotten his day's dose of entertainment watching the swordsman slip into the water with him while he tried to lend him his coat without looking, there was no way of telling if he had actually seen – or heard, for that matter – anything in the chaos afterwards.

Strangely, as intimidating as Park Danho looked with his ever-unsmiling face, Nokdu found himself trusting the man not to have any ulterior motive, about falling into the water at least. Though he had to admit it was largely because neither of the reasons in his head for suspecting him made sense; that he was either a really clumsy warrior – unlikely for someone who was considered the best swordsman of Joseon – or that he was trying to make some kind of move on him, which he knew was ridiculous because he knew for a fact that… Lady Kim wasn't really his type.

This essence of confidence in the man was why he suggested drying themselves before heading back – Nokdu could not afford to catch a cold right now – even though it meant spending some time with Danho, something that was not conducive to his plan for finding his family's attackers in any way.

He sighed, keeping his eyes shut as he continued to lay under the sun. He knew that Danho was somewhere beside him, sitting not too far away, but it was when he felt the linger of a gaze, that his eyes fluttered open and he tilted his head to the side.

He saw Park Danho's face staring back at him, turning red before quickly looking away. Nokdu wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Are you blushing or having a heat stroke?" He asked.

"It's nothing," came the short reply. Danho was now sitting up, adjusting the collar of his open overcoat which gave Nokdu a glaring view of his chest. For a moment, he was jealous that he couldn't take off his own shirt and enjoy the sunny day.

One thing was for sure, Park Danho was training well. He was really toned.

Wow, people can probably do laundry on his stomach.

"What?"

Nokdu's eyes widened as he realized he had said that out loud.

"I said I need to get back and do laundry later," he corrected himself with an awkward smile. Danho didn't look like he believed Nokdu at all, especially since he could have sworn that he saw the hint of smile at the corner of his mouth. "What, you think laundry is funny, huh?" Nokdu scoffed and saw Danho's smile grow just a bit wider.

"No, but you are cute," he said simply and Nokdu almost choked. Before he could protest, Danho put out his hand towards him. "Take this, it will keep your hair in place better." Nokdu's eyes drifted to Danho's open palm which now held a beautiful intricately carved binyeo.

"Where did you get this?"

"It belonged to my mother," Danho explained, his hand still outstretched in anticipation. Nokdu shook his head.

"I can't take this, I'll be fine." Nokdu saw Danho's face fall slightly before he tucked the binyeo into his belt. They sat in silence for a short while before Nokdu's curiosity got the better of him.

"Your mother, is she…"

"She died a long time ago," Danho cut into his question, like he knew it was coming. Nokdu sighed.

"Looks like we have something in common." Danho turned to look at Nokdu, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Was she a kind woman?" He asked, his tone sincere. The question surprised Nokdu; he would have thought Danho would ask about missing his mother instead.

"She was…" Nokdu paused, trying to find the right words. "She cared about her family but…" He stopped again, wondering why he was opening up to this man he hadn't really known long.

"You're not Yihyun! You're not my son!" Nokdu's adoptive mother cried at him, as she squirmed in pain on her bed, afflicted with illness.

"Ommeoni, Father is coming soon with medicine," Nokdu tried to calm her down as tears streamed down his face.

"My family could have had a normal life if it wasn't for you!" She screamed, making Nokdu's heart break even more as she took her last breaths.

As his thoughts began to wander again while reminiscing of his mother, he felt a calloused hand gently hover over his, barely touching him. He didn't move his hand away but the action was enough to break him out of his trance. His eyes snapped to Danho who was looking as serious as ever.

"It's alright if the memories of your mother aren't particularly good," he said solemnly while lightly patting his palm. "You can tell me." Nokdu wasn't sure if he was sensing a certain level of empathy on hearing Danho's words but definitely felt more at ease when he said that. "And if it's a secret, you can still tell me," he added with the hint of a smirk on his face. "You should know better than anyone about how good I am at keeping secrets, Lady Kim."

Lady Kim.

Nokdu was suddenly reminded that Danho was talking to Lady Kim right now. He had gotten so comfortable having him around he had nearly forgotten he was currently disguised as someone else.

He was… disappointed.

It was a pity that someone who had the potential to be a good friend was actually being deceived.

But Nokdu knew he had a job to do.

"I think that…" he began, hesitant at first. "I always suspected that my mother resented me for some reason," he confessed, oddly feeling a sense of relief in having said the words out loud.

Danho looked on as if urging him to continue and he did.

"My father constantly assured me it was because of something he had done in the past but I couldn't help but wonder if I had a part to play… He was strangely overprotective of me. I was never allowed to do anything I wanted to or even go anywhere on my own. My brother was always the one sent to do things."

"Your father probably had a good reason for doing what he did," Danho said suddenly, making Nokdu's face shift to his. "But I understand how you feel. I do what I want for most part but lately certain aspects of my life…" He paused to let out a long breath. "I'm beginning to question whether it's something I want to do or something that I've accepted as needing to be done." Nokdu laughed drily.

"That's not something any employer would want to hear from their personal assassin, is it?" He said it teasingly but could tell from Danho's face that the swordsman was genuinely reconsidering what he did for a living. "Hey…" Nokdu grabbed Danho's hand and raised it up, looking straight at him.

"Let's work towards a day when we can both finally do whatever we want to."