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The next morning, Hobi was keeping an eye out for Nuri.  He wanted to catch her in the hallway.  Hopefully, a secluded one.  So far, though, he hadn’t seen her today.  In an hour, he would have to head off to practice with his troupe.  He’d been loitering in this hallway for close to an hour already.

Just then, she turned the corner, stumbling along on her twisted leg.  He winced as he watched her.  She was carrying a tray again.  He rushed up to her.  

“Nuri!” His beaming grin engulfed her with its light.

She felt completely embraced by his goodness.

“Hobi!” she returned his smile.

“Can I carry that tray for you?”

She peeped up at him.  “All right.”

He removed her burden and walked slowly alongside her.  “Lead the way, my fair maiden.”

She giggled and blushed.

“Nuri?”

“Yes?” Her eyes were wide and full of gladness as she gazed up at him.  She already adored him.

“How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“Ah,” he grinned.  “I’m twenty.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that news, so she just kept smiling at him.  Then she admitted shyly, “My birthday is in three days.”

His eyes grew round.  “It is!?  Happy early birthday!”

Her smile grew wider.  “Thank you.”

Now he found the moment to ask the question that was burning a hole through his gut.  “Nuri, have you ever had the measles?”

She nodded suddenly.  “When I was a toddler.”

Hobi heaved a deep sigh of relief.  “Thank God.”

“You heard that someone in the village has them?” she asked him quietly.

He bobbed his head.

She peered up at him curiously.  “Did you have them too?”

He shook his head, and she felt a dart of fear pierce her.  “You didn’t?” 

He heard the tremor in her voice.

“It’s all right,” he spoke softly as he tried to soothe her.  “I’m pretty sure I can’t get them.  My sister had them.  My cousins and all my friends had them.  I was exposed several times, but I never had any symptoms.”

“Oh,” she sighed in relief, “that’s so good to hear!”  She glanced up at him out of her wide, dark eyes. 

He resisted an urge to kiss her pretty lips.  And to pull her into his arms.  He wanted to hold her.  To comfort her.  And because it seemed to him that she belonged in his embrace.

“Do you think you could get some time away soon?” he queried quietly.  More softly than was his natural bent.  “Maybe meet me in the garden again?”

Her face filled with sadness.  “I doubt it.  My master keeps a close eye on me.  And a tight rein.  Most of the time.  Last time was…an anomaly.”

He saw her wince.  “Nuri,” his eyes filled with concern, “what’s wrong?”

She pasted a fake smile on her face.  “Nothing!  I’m fine.  I just wish I could spend some more time alone with you,” she breathed so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her.  Surely, no one else had.

“I wish it too,” he murmured as his hungry eyes devoured her lovely countenance.  “I wish I could spend some time with you every day.”  

All day.

Her eyes were glowing as they met his.  “You do?”

The way she asked her question shattered his heart.  For it implied that no one had ever cared for her in such a manner as he did.  And if there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that this girl was born for love.  Born to be loved.

That’s what she was to him.  Beloved.  He knew that love had overtaken him quickly.  It had.  It had also conquered him completely.  He was beginning to be willing to risk some things for her.

His eyes slid over the delicate planes of her tiny face.  “You’re so beautiful, Nuri.  Do you realize that?”

Startled, she glanced up at him.  “I,” she swallowed.  “No.”

“But you are.  Delicate.  Lovely.”  

He wanted to reach out and brush his fingers down her cheek.  And part her lips gently with his thumb.  Before he captured them with his own mouth.  He wanted to kiss her softly.  Sweetly.  Tenderly.  To show her what real love looked like.  And felt like.

Hobi was overwhelmed by a burning desire to protect her.  He had seen the way her master looked at her.  Touched her.  Mistreated her.  Hobi wanted to put a stop to it.  But he wasn’t sure how.  

She was the man’s property.  Still, his mind wouldn’t let loose of it.  Morning.  Noon.  Night.  His brain was working overtime trying to find a solution.  To construct a way of escape for her.  He was so frustrated that he hadn’t found one yet.  Every time he stood before the king, Hobi did his best performance.  Hoping that one day King Yoongi would offer him a favor.  Hobi was still waiting for that moment to arrive.

Nuri was gazing up at him out of wide almond eyes.  A brown so deep and dark that he would call it obsidian.  At this moment, he could barely differentiate her pupils from her irises.  He could, however, see himself reflected in her eyes.  Her face was awash in tenderness.

“You really think I’m beautiful?”

“So beautiful.”

He was startled to see a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she turned her head to look forward.  They were almost to her destination.  She knew she’d have to bid him farewell then.  She sighed in disappointment.

He noticed.  “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered.

His lips stretched into a wide smile, but he wasn’t happy.  Not really.  For they were about to part ways again.  However, his heart was overflowing with her affection for him.

“I feel the same,” he breathed as he bent towards her to whisper the words into her ear.  “Keep an eye out for me.  I am often hovering around in the hallways, hoping for a glimpse of you.”

Her eyes collided with his again.  They widened, making her appear even younger than her almost-fifteen years.  She wanted to kiss him.  To lavish him with all the beautiful feelings he’d poured into her soul.  No one had ever deposited anything good in her before.  

Except Insuk of late.  Sharing her goodies with Nuri.  And that kind lady, Jina, who had shared her meal with her.  And a few words of encouragement that the queen had given Nuri in passing.  But Hobi’s attention was something altogether different.  Infinitely more precious.  When she was around him, she felt as though she was the only person he could see.  And the only person he wanted to see.  All his love was for her alone.