Title: And What About Lee Rang?
Author: Arldetta
Spoilers: Episode ten-ish, kinda
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Missing Scene.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tale of the Nine Tailed, or any of the characters. I can only say they made some really good characters and storylines and left enough wiggle room for me to play in. ;)
Author's note: Ok, all I can say is that something was bothering me for a while when I watched the series that I couldn't figure out at first. I was as surprised as Rang when Yeon finally shows up in the bar. He had been so indifferent the rest of the time and to suddenly appear apologizing wasn't quite clicking for me. And I started wondering when and how Yeon figured out that Rang was about to die. There had to be a missing scene somewhere. So I wracked my brain trying to figure out who knew and would be willing to contact Yeon about it. This little drabble came from that thought process. Hope you enjoy it. And as always, thanks for reading and leaving a review if you can.
-t-o-t-n-t-
Lee Yeon was a little irritated for having been pulled away from dinner. The beef intestines were surprisingly better than expected. The text had sounded urgent and Yeon could only imagine it was about Imugi or the Chinese Lantern tree.
He pulled up along the Samdocheon and headed toward the entrance. He wasn't surprised to find Hyunuiong standing anxiously outside. "Hey, old man, what's so urgent?"
"Sheesh, this punk. I wanted to make sure you had all your plans set. We are quickly running out of time."
Yeon clicked his tongue, "Aish, I know that already. Once we locate the Chinese Lantern tree we can save Ji-ah's parents and Ji-ah at the same time."
"And what of Lee Rang?"
"He's locating the Chinese Lantern tree for us."
"And?" The elder was starting to get flustered.
"And he'll let us know when he's found it." Yeon continued, slightly exasperated at the questioning.
And for the first time, Hyunuoing felt his heart drop in his chest. Realization crashing over him. He breathed, "You don't know?" Frustration quickly building. "For all your thousand years sometimes you are nothing more than a stupid child," he hissed under his breath.
Turning back to the Gumiho, Hyunuiong demanded, "How can you not know? He's your brother dammit!"
It was Lee Yeon's turn to feel like the rug had been pulled out from under him. The petulant smirk he often sported fell. The fact that the old man was this upset and he had no idea why made the night feel suddenly oppressive.
Trying to sound indifferent, Yeon shot back, "What of Lee Rang?"
"Aish," the elder wiped a hand over his face. Glancing back at the gumiho, the older man revealed, "He came here earlier tonight to see granny." Lee Yeon's heart sped up. The implications of what Hyunuiong said was starting to scare him. "He came here hoping to find a way to break a contract. He begged her for a way. But as you know, there are only ever two options. Fulfill the contract…. Or die."
The ancient mountain god struggled to pull air into his lungs. Emotions swirled in a storm and in a flash of lightning burst in to anger. "That bastard! How could he? How dare he not tell me?" They had only spoken hours ago and Rang never said a word about his imminent death. Is that all you have to say to me? A familiar voice whispered in his mind.
"Shut up!" Huynuiong's deep voice thundered back. "Not tell you? Did you not think to ask when you found out he was among Imugi's hostages? I doubt it! And why tell you, when he doesn't expect you to help him anyway.
"How is it you can be so blind and stupid sometimes? What did Imugi ask of Ji-ah, huh? Then guess, just guess what Lee Rang's contract must be and why he would want to break it."
A pain pierced his heart, dissipating the anger. No, Yeon did not want to think about it. "Rang-ah," he whispered, "I warned you not to get involved with Imugi."
Hyunuiong grabbed the gumiho by the shoulders, locking their gazes and asked, "Do you truly believe he had a choice?"
For a moment the younger man searched within, ultimately relenting to the obvious truth. He dropped his gaze, eyes stinging.
The other man broke his thoughts, "So what are you going to do about it? To be honest he scared me when he left. The look of resignation on his face. The scent of death hovering around him. And the lack of hope in his eyes. For all the pain he has caused over the centuries, I had never seen such a sorrowful creature. My heart broke. I tried to give him advice, but I could see his desire to live waning."
"Save him." Yeon declared with growing conviction. "I will save Lee Rang."
"That's my boy!" Hyunuiong cheered. "Remember, first find out the terms of the contract. It's all about equivalency."
"Imugi has already told me he would spare their lives in exchange for my body. He put Ji-ah up to the same thing. I imagine Rang's contract is the same."
"Lee Yeon, if that is the case, you realize what Lee Rang is willing to do, don't you?"
With a sigh, the gumiho nodded. "Yes, he is willing to sacrifice his own life to save mine."
"Go to him. The scent of death was strong. I would say he has less than a day left to live."
With that Yeon gave the man a curt nod, a sad smile and then was off to find his brother.
-t-o-t-n-t-
So there you go. I hope it was believable and made sense. I'm still relatively new to watching K-Dramas and such, so please forgive any spelling errors and cultural errors. No offense was intended. Thanks again for reading!
On a side note, I thought there was a category here for this series. But I couldn't find it. If anyone can point me in the right direction for it please let me know. Thanks!