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He broke his promise.  He didn’t return until the moon was high in the sky.  And when he came in, his head was bent.  His posture, even at a blurry distance, alerted her that something was terribly wrong.

“What is it?” she exclaimed.  “Jijin?  What’s wrong?”

His face awash in grief, he stood staring out the window of his bedchamber.  But at her voice, he turned towards her, and the sorrow blazing in his gaze undid her.  She gasped and flew across the room towards him.  Sadness seemed to roll off of his distressed countenance in waves that invaded her own heart.  His anguish was palpable; it was now clinging to her.

“Jijin?”

She reached out a hand to touch his arm with concern…and comfort.

“I never really knew my mother,” he murmured almost absentmindedly.  “She was only recently returned to me.  But I’ve just discovered that I’m going to lose her.  For good.” 

She gasped again.  Her crystal indigo eyes flying wide in dismay.  

“She’s been drinking poison for years.  It’s taken its toll on her,” he suddenly sobbed.  After an involuntary gasp, he breathed, “I don’t know how much time she has left, but I suspect not much.”

Without thinking, she moved towards him until her chest bumped his, and her arms slid around him to hug him close to her.  She buried her face over his suffering heart.

“I am so, so sorry,” she gasped against his chest.

Such a crazy desire then overwhelmed her, startling her.  She wanted to pull him into her heart and wrap herself around him in comforting waves.  She had never felt thus for any man before.

Stunned, he clung to her.  And buried his face against her neck.  Unwittingly, he began to sob against her soft skin.  His arms tightened about her, drawing her as close as possible to him.  He never wanted to let her go.  She was pure comfort to him right now.

Many minutes passed as he poured his grief into the crook of her neck.  Finally, overcome by the tenderness of her compassion for him, he raised his head and brushed his lips across her cheek.  He felt her tense, but he repeated the kiss anyway.  Several times.  Each time, his lips inched a little closer to her mouth.  But before he could claim it with his own, she pulled back.

“Jijin.”  There was a warning note in her voice.

And he knew what she was thinking.  They’d known each other for only a few days. 

But, selfishly, he wanted to be comforted, so he tugged her even closer and bent to breathe on her neck.  He didn’t attempt to kiss her again.  He simply held her for a while longer.  The steady inhalation and exhalation of his breath the only sound enveloping them.

She was the purest peace to him in those precious moments.  He hadn’t thought that anyone had the power to comfort him.  He’d lost Ah Ro.  He’d lost his eomma as a tiny child and never really regained her. 

But maybe he was developing a special bond with an unusual and extraordinary woman.

“Stay with me tonight,” he murmured.

As she tensed again, his arms loosened around her, and he whispered, “Don’t slip off to the other room after I’ve fallen asleep.  Please.  Stay with me tonight.  I need you.”

The pain in his voice, the supplication, swayed her with ease.  And she gave a quick bob of her head.  “I won’t leave you.  I promise.”

But she was uneasy.  What if he desired her to become intimate with him?  What if he pressed her once she was lying in that bed with him? 

He had clearly wanted to kiss her a few moments ago.  Would he control himself when she was at his mercy?

But…wasn’t she already at his mercy?  Trapped here in his rooms as she was?

She swallowed and followed him into that bed.  Unsure how to comfort him.  She was torn between her desire to protect her own heart and comfort his.

But she needn’t have worried.  He simply pulled her close and buried his nose in her hair as she settled her head against his chest.  His arms squeezed her tight.

He’d just endured the most trying day of his entire life.  He wanted something to distract him from the tension that was eating him alive right now.  He wished that Eun Sook had been receptive to his kisses.  But she had thrown up a very solid wall against him.  And with each brush of his lips against her cheek, that wall had grown taller. 

He sighed into her white hair.  What would it take to awaken her to his desire?  Was it even possible?

He needed her.  As much as his heart still desired Ah Ro, he was beginning to be drawn inexorably towards this girl.  And tonight, she was the only one lending him any comfort at all.

“Talk to me,” he gasped.  “Tell me something of your own life.”

Her heart shot out of her chest then.  And her eyes flew open.  What on earth could she tell him without raising his suspicions?

She cleared her throat.  “There’s not much to tell.  I’ve been an outcast my entire life.  I was raised by an old woman in a tiny village.  Until a few years ago when she died.  Then I had to make a way for myself.”

He frowned.  “What happened to your parents?”

“My mother died in childbirth.  My father rejected me as soon as he learned of my deformity.”

Now his heart was hurting for an entirely different reason.  “He cast you out of his house?” he asked in shock.

She nodded.  “Yes.  The day I was born.”

She felt his arms tighten around her, and instinctively she knew that this time he was pulling her closer to him to comfort her heart.  And she felt her affection for him grow.

“I’m all right,” she whispered.  To solace him.

“No, you’re not.  You’re very hurt.  You’ve been wounded by everyone.  I hope – I hope I haven’t hurt you.”

She raised her head and glanced into his beautiful eyes and that sympathetic countenance.  She shook her head.  “You’ve never hurt me,” she breathed.  And she felt her heart shifting as she delved the depths of those chocolate orbs again.

Her feelings for him were beginning to scare her.  She still had no idea who he was.  She couldn’t afford to grow too close to him.  The day would come when he would seek a proper wife.  A normal one.  With midnight hair and dark eyes.  A prim and proper lady from a noble household.  A girl who was accepted by her own father. 

She sighed and lay her head back down on his chest.  She closed her eyes against the tears that were forming.  She hadn’t called upon the pain that had birthed them.  Now she tried to squash it down and think only of his agony.

“I’m glad,” he whispered against her snowy hair.  His breath tickled her scalp, and for a moment she smiled.

She felt oddly safe right now.  He didn’t seem to be thinking about kissing her anymore.  And he wasn’t asking her for something she was unwilling to give.  He appeared to be contented with the history with which she’d supplied him.  But then he opened his mouth, again ruffling her.

“How did you come to be in my forest?”

But that one word jumped out at her.  “Your forest?” she queried.

He tensed then forced a laugh.  “I like to think of it that way.”

“But isn’t it the king’s forest?”

“Hmm…I suppose it is.  But I feel as if it belongs to me.  I visit it often, you see.”

“Ahhh.”  She neglected to answer his question.

“Eun Sook, why were you there?”

“I visited it often too.  To think.”

He sniggered.  “Touché.” 

I guess we both have truths that we’re still unwilling to share with each other.

“All right, I’ll leave you alone.  Tell me a story now.  Any one you want.”

“You don’t want more of the king’s story?” she asked, surprised.

“Not tonight.”  His voice sounded oddly weary.

“All right.  I’ll tell you the story I wrote today then.” 

It was a true story.  Of the most precious person in all the world to her.

“There was once a tiny girl.  With midnight pigtails and the widest smile that the world has ever seen.  She possessed a laugh that would wake the deadest heart.  And a love that would win over the hardest soul.  Yet she was not beloved.  At least, not by those who should have loved her best. 

“Her name was Young Jin for she was the rarest of gems.  Precious Jade.  Even her eyes matched the stone for which she was named.  Perhaps that’s why she so easily befriended the albino with the indigo eyes.  They were both different.  But Young Jin was readily accepted by the people of the village.  Her mother might have cast her out when her father rejected her, but the kind family that took her in adored her.  And so did the girl with the white hair.”

Jin Heung was truly distracted from his own pain now.  Was Eun Sook telling him a true story?  One about herself?  Was this her way of answering his questions about her past?

He listened carefully as she continued her tale.

“Young Jin was a delightful girl.  But she had one awful flaw.  She was lame in one leg.  So she couldn’t run around with all the village children.  She would sit and watch them playing.  A mournful look on her face.  But when any of them would talk to her, her expression would clear, and she would chatter away.  She never wanted anyone to notice her private pain.

“But the albino did.  For she always hid from the others.  In the shadows.  Where no one noticed her.  So when Young Jin sat alone, crying over her own agony, the other girl noticed.  And felt her heart shift violently in her chest.  For she knew what it was to be isolated from the very people she longed to be like.

“So, one day, she found the courage to approach Young Jin.

“‘Excuse me.  Would you like me to tell you a story?’ she asked the younger girl.

“Young Jin glanced up and gasped as she stared in awe at the girl with the flowing, white hair.

“That girl took a step back.  Bracing herself for more rejection.

“‘You’re so pretty!’ the tiny girl complimented the older girl.  ‘What’s your name?’

“‘Ha Yan,’ responded the albino.

“‘You want to tell me a story?!’ the little girl breathed in awe.

“Ha Yan nodded. 

“‘But…why?’ Young Jin asked in surprise.

“‘Because you look like you need a friend.’  Ha Yan paused.  ‘And I know for sure that I do.’

“Young Jin frowned.  ‘You don’t have any friends?’ she cried out, in distress that such a beautiful creature was alone.

“Ha Yan shook her head.  ‘Everyone thinks I’m a freak.’

“‘What?  Why?’

“‘Because my hair is white, and my eyes are purple.’

“‘But you’re so pretty!’ the tiny girl insisted.

“‘How old are you?’ Ha Yan asked abruptly, smiling at the sweet girl.

“‘Five years old,’ she announced proudly.

“Ha Yan’s smile bloomed into a grin.

“‘How old are you?’ queried the small child.

“‘I’m twelve years old.’

“‘Wow,’ breathed Young Jin in awe.  ‘You’re so old!’

“Ha Yan laughed suddenly. 

“And Young Jin’s lips spread into a wide smile.  ‘You’re not a freak.  You’re beautiful,” she breathed.  ‘I want to be your friend!  Please tell me a story!  I love stories!’  Her face beamed with excitement as she gazed expectantly up at the older girl.

“‘All right.  Relax.  I’ll tell you a really fun one!’ Ha Yan settled herself on the ground next to her new friend.  And began to regale her with a tale about a bunny and a bird.

“The two of them became fast friends.  Ha Yan would look for Young Jin first thing every morning.  They would sit in the meadow as the albino told her fascinating tales to the little girl.  Young Jin was the only one who appreciated her or her imagination.  But, sadly, before long, they were parted from one another.”

Eun Sook paused.

Jijin waited patiently, but she didn’t continue her story.  So, after a couple of silent minutes, he whispered, “Eun Sook?  Is there no more?  Why were the friends parted from each other?”

She heaved a deep sigh.  “Because the woman who was taking care of Ha Yan died.  And the albino was cast out of the village.”

“Why?” he asked, curious.

“Because they believed that Ha Yan cursed the woman who raised her.  And that’s why she died.”

Horrified, he gazed down at her white head.  “Eun Sook,” he queried quietly, “are you Ha Yan?”

Ha Yan meant white.  A good name for an albino character.

She was silent again.  “I’m sorry, Jijin.  I’m really tired.  Would it be okay if I go to sleep now?  I can move to the other room if I’m disturbing you.  I’m sorry that I didn’t woo you to sleep with my story.”

His arms tightened around her.  “No, I don’t want you to leave.  Remember?  I asked you to stay with me tonight.  If you’re tired, you should sleep.  I’ll be all right.”

“Okay,” she whispered as she fought off a sob that was bubbling up from deep within. 

She choked it back, but she couldn’t fend off the tear that suddenly rolled down her cheek.  And Jijin noticed it.

Her eyes fluttered shut, but she was startled a moment later when his warm hand suddenly cradled her cheek, and his gentle thumb tenderly brushed away that wet drop.  Then she would have sworn that his lips brushed the top of her head.

“I’m here, Eun Sook.  If you need to talk to me,” he offered sweetly.

She nodded her head before burying her nose against his chest.  His comforting arms surrounded her, and she wondered how on earth the focus had switched from him to her.  And how he was now seeking to give her the comfort which she had first sought to give him.

And making her fall even more in love with him.