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Soo Yeon went in search of her father.  To face head on the consequences of her actions.  Of her refusal to marry an excellent man.

She found her father in his office.  He glanced up at her expectantly.  “Well, my dear?  Is the deed done?”

“Indeed, it is,” she murmured sadly.

His eyes brimming with happiness, he leapt from his seat.  “You will not regret your choice, my dear.  Lee Beom Sook is the very best of men.  I am sure that he will make you supremely happy.  Once you have forgotten Ban Ryu.”

“I will never forget Ban Ryu, Appa,” she insisted.  “And I will never marry Lee Beom Sook.”

His eyes flashed sudden fire at her.  “What’s this?  You didn’t accept the good man?”

She shook her head.  “I could not do that to that good man.”

“What?  Explain yourself!” he burst out.

“I would never have grown to love Lee Beom Sook.  He would have been chained to a woman whom he knew loved another.”

“And just how would he have known that unless you had told him?”

“But, of course, I told him!  You would have me deceive a good man?”

He groaned in frustration.  “You have refused the best match I could make you!” he thundered.  “How could you do this to me?”

“To you?  Appa, wasn’t I the one who was to be married to him?  Weren’t you doing this to me?”

Furious, he simply stared at her.  After a moment, he countered with, “I thought we had an agreement.  You were to marry Lee Beom Sook, and I was to foster Park Ban Ryu.  What will become of your champion now?”

“I don’t know, Appa.  What will become of my champion?”

“You had a chance to help him.  And you chose to fail him.”  He turned his back on her.

“Have you no heart?” she cried out in despair.  “Were you never in love, Appa?  With a girl you could not have?”  Her wide, chocolate eyes pleaded with him. 

Then after a silent moment, she sighed.  “Of course, you were not!” she answered herself.  “You have always loved Eomma.  You have no idea what it feels like to be denied your heart’s desire!”

Her voice broke on a sob, and she ran for her room.  Bawling.

But she quickly realized that she would do Ban Ryu no good there.  So she headed for his room.  At least, she could nurse him back to health.  Before she said goodbye to him forever.

––

Lord Kim Seub returned home late one night to find his wife reading in Ban Ryu’s room.  The boy was asleep, and so was Soo Yeon.  She was still camped out on the yo bed in the corner of the room.  Her father glanced irately down at her before turning his gaze on his wife.

“Why is she still sleeping in here?  Surely, the man is recovered enough for her to stop this ceaseless vigilance!”

His wife didn’t answer him.  Upon further examination, he realized that her face looked decidedly pinched.  He drew closer to her and whispered, “Bit Na, what’s the matter?”

“I think she’s already dropped some weight.  She’s always been tiny, Seub!  She can’t afford to lose much more!”

“What are you talking about?” he asked softly, but with exasperation.

Her eyes traveled across the room to land on their daughter.  “Soo Yeon refuses to eat.  She hasn’t eaten since she turned down Lee Beom Sook.”

“What?” he thundered.

And Ban Ryu grew restless and kicked his leg outside of his blanket.  Then he groaned in pain.  Which made Lord Kim Seub blanch.  He reached down and settled the boy’s leg back under his covers before tucking him in again.  His wife watched him with tenderness.

“I don’t care how frosty you act, Kim Seub.  You can’t fool your wife.  You feel some fondness for the lad, don’t you?” she breathed behind him.

He swung around to face her.  “What?” he blustered.  “No.  The man was obviously in pain.  What kind of a fellow human being would I be if I didn’t try to ease his discomfort?”

She smiled sweetly up at him before rising to her feet.  She stepped forward and slid her arms around him.  “And this is exactly why I fell in love with you,” she murmured with affection before brushing her lips across his.

But another girl’s words were echoing in his heart, distracting him from the sweetness of his wife’s kiss.

“Have you no heart?  Were you never in love, Appa?  With a girl you could not have?” 

He drew his face away from his wife’s.  “She really hasn’t eaten in five days?” he queried as his eyes landed on their daughter’s pretty face, relaxed in slumber.  She looked like the tiniest of girls.  But her face was drawn. 

He let go of his wife and crossed the room to stare down at his beloved daughter.  His wife was right.  The girl had dropped some weight.  It wasn’t just the effect of sleep that made her appear so young.  She was reverting to her former self.  The skinny girl she’d been before she’d hit puberty and gotten curves in all the right places.  He wondered if she still had any curves.  Her face looked quite gaunt. 

Suddenly, he found himself worrying over her more than he would like.  In fact, he didn’t want to worry over her at all.  That was the reason that he had sought a marriage for her with Lee Beom Sook.  He had been assured that the man had a fondness for her, was wealthy enough to meet her every need, was well-placed in society, and was well-respected everywhere.  She would have been happy in his care.  But for one thing…

He turned to growl at the boy sleeping in his bed. 

Ban Ryu.

The bane of his existence. 

The reason that his daughter was so miserable right now.

Should he simply give in to the girl’s request and foster the abandoned lad?

Lad.  Ha. 

He was a man of eighteen now.

But as Lord Kim Seub stared down at his young face relaxed in slumber, he had to admit that Ban Ryu seemed to have more in common with that tiny child whom he’d met in that market all those years ago.  The one who had been accompanied by Sook Min.  Her darling boy.  Son of Park Ho Gong.

But Ban Ryu wasn’t just the son of his enemy.

He was also the son of Kim Seub’s first love.

And out of respect for that dearly departed girl of long ago, shouldn’t he have at least a little fondness for her child?

As he peered down at that injured lad, his heart suddenly released a pang as a memory surfaced….

It had been late summer, and he had sneaked outside to lie under the stars with Sook Min.  She had settled herself next to him.  Her long, raven hair gleaming under the moonlight.  She had then turned to smile at him.  Her face had been mostly hidden from him, but her moist lips had somehow caught the glow of that full moon.  He’d been able to clearly discern the curve of her sweet smile as she had beamed at him.

“Seub?” she’d whispered.

“Hmm?”

“When you marry, do you want a boy or a girl?”

He had known that she had expected him to desire a boy.  Everyone wanted a boy to carry on both his father’s name and his honor.  But he had surprised her by answering, “A girl.”

“Whaa?” she had gasped.  “You want a girl?  Really?  But…why?”

His eyes had caressed her in the darkness as he’d stared into her obsidian orbs.  “Because I think girls are wonderful,” he’d breathed.

“You do?”

“Mm-hmm.”

She had continued to stare at him.  Even as he had rolled towards her and slid his arm around her waist, drawing her near to him.  He had gazed down at her shining face. 

“I think this girl, in particular, is something special.”  His heart had begun to race then.

“Seub?” she’d whispered.

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

His heart had seemed to explode in his chest then, and he’d been just sure that all the pieces of it had become plastered to her own heart.  For it was now pressed against his chest.  He had bent his head then and brushed his lips across hers.  And been absolutely certain that he would never love another girl as he loved her.

Of course, time had fled from them, and distance had separated them.  So had marriage.  Hers to Park Ho Gong.  And his to Bit Na.

His heart had healed.  And he had fallen in love with his beautiful Bit Na.

But…he had never forgotten that special girl from long ago.  Not even after she had died.  Leaving behind a defenseless boy.  With absolutely no one to protect him from his calculating father.  Or his diabolical foster father.  Ban Ryu had been left to his own devices at a tender age.  He’d been left a pawn to be used by two cruel old men.  And together, they had nearly destroyed Sook Min’s beloved child.

How on earth had Kim Seub hardened his heart for so long against her offspring?

As he stared down at the boy sleeping in that bed, Kim Seub couldn’t for the life of him explain why it had taken so long for him to wake up.  If Sook Min’s son needed a father, who better to fill those shoes than the boy who had once given his heart to her under a full moon?