Yeo Wool stumbled into the dining room at the end of the lunch hour. He ran his fingers through his long hair as his eyes found Sam Sook immediately.
She glanced up at him and was startled to realize how adorable the man was upon waking. His hair was still rumpled, his eyes seemed yet clouded by sleep, and his face appeared somehow more vulnerable than usual. She swallowed and looked away quickly. Planting her eyes in her plate. Anything to hide from his perceptive gaze.
She really wasn’t ready to face him.
“Yeo Wool!” Jung Sook exclaimed. “Are you awake already? You barely slept!”
“I am fine,” the man murmured, his eyes never leaving Sam Sook’s face.
Jung Sook watched that hungry gaze and sighed.
These two.
She shook her head. If only she could figure out some way to help them find each other. She wanted nothing so much as to see both Sam Sook and Yeo Wool happy.
“Please. Come have some lunch, at least.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her while he pulled out the chair next to Sam Sook. Then his eyes found the face of his beloved once more.
Such a wistful expression was stirring in his gaze that Jung Sook nearly lost it. She had to turn away from that heartbroken man. In all the time that she had known him, she had never seen Yeo Wool like this.
“What time did you go to sleep?”
It was Sam Sook’s quiet voice.
Yeo Wool smiled as he responded to her. “Nine o’clock.”
Jung Sook sent a sharp glance his way. “Nine o’clock? But I relieved you at six thirty.”
“I slipped out for a little while.”
Now Sam Sook looked at him. “You did? Why?”
“I had an appointment with the king.”
The execution.
What he wasn’t saying in front of the girl was that he had been expected to attend the execution of that man against whom he had testified.
Sam Sook felt her heart melting in tenderness towards him. Tears filled her eyes suddenly. She jumped up and fled the room. She couldn’t cry in front of Se Ri. She didn’t want to upset her daughter. Not any more than the girl had already been upset.
Yeo Wool stood up and calmly followed her down the hallway. He was surprised when she slipped into the bedroom in which she’d slept this morning. Thankfully, she hadn’t shut the door behind her.
He stopped outside of it and knocked lightly on the doorpost. She spun towards him.
So he saw the tears now spilling down her cheeks. He glanced back down the hall to ensure that they hadn’t been followed. They were alone.
He stepped through the doorway and closed the door quietly behind him.
“Sam Sook,” he whispered her name reverently.
“I can’t even begin to thank you for protecting my daughter as you have done,” she whispered.
“You don’t need to thank me. Of course, I would protect Se Ri!”
“I can’t believe he’s already gone. I wasn’t sure what the king would do, but I don’t think I expected him to order his execution this quickly.”
“I understand if it’s a shock.”
She blinked. And more tears cascaded down her cheeks. “It’s so strange. I’ve never before experienced a resolution. When I was a child, no one ever found out. That man went unpunished. All I wanted to do was to protect Se Ri from further pain.”
“And you have.”
“We have,” she corrected him.
He smiled faintly. “We make a pretty good team.”
Her eyes moved away from his then. And she turned her back to him. And wandered over to the window. “I’m not used to being part of a team. Not anymore.”
“I know. You’re used to watching out for your daughters all on your own. But…you’re not alone anymore, Sam Sook,” he breathed.
His heart was racing now. Would she refuse him again?
“Thank you, Yeo Wool,” she murmured quietly. Still facing the window. “You have always been my friend.”
“And I always will be. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask me.”
She furrowed her brow. That sounded oddly like…goodbye.
She spun around. “Are you leaving?”
He nodded. “I need to return to the hwarang house. I have been gone long enough. Now that I know that Se Ri is safe, I can go.” He paused a moment. Then he muttered, “You don’t need me anymore.”
He turned towards the door. But her voice stopped him.
“When will I see you again?”
Facing the door, he responded softly, “I do not know.” Then he couldn’t stop himself from asking the question that his heart was screaming. “Do you wish to see me again?”
He closed his eyes as he held his breath. Waiting for her answer.
He had to wait a long time.
After several long seconds, which felt like a few eternities had passed between them, she breathed one word that gave him a bit of hope.
“Yes.”
