Won Soo thought he was doing an admirable job as Park Young Min's loyal servant. Had he not agreed to accompany his master to Miryang without question? Had he not taken care of their horses when they'd arrived at the mountaintop village, and sent for the magistrate to take away that suspicious Soo Mi Nam? Had he not kept his master's mysterious ailment a secret, and found a decent place for them to stay?

So then why, Won Soo wondered as he fought his way through a mob of street performers clamoring for his attention, was he being punished in this way?

"Performance tonight! Singing, dancing, acting! You'll bring your friends to watch, won't you?" one of the entertainers pestered at Won Soo's shoulder.

"Go away!" Won Soo demanded, shoving the man onto a different passerby. But as soon as he got rid of one performer, it seemed, another stepped up to take his place.

"We've had an extra day to prepare since the rain delayed our performance last night," another man said, popping up in front of Won Soo with an enthusiastic smile. "It's certain to be a memorable experience."

"So I've heard," Won Soo growled, nearly dropping the bundle he was holding as a bewildered villager jostled past, closely pursued by two more performers shouting after her to attend the evening's festivities. "That's if you don't manage to scare everyone off beforehand."

The man winced, but quickly recovered. "Ah, we're just-very motivated to have a large audience tonight," he explained with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, you will come to see it, won't you?"

Won Soo sighed. "It's up to my master to decide on that matter," he replied dismissively. "Now, if you'll please let me pass-I have somewhere to be."

For a moment, the performer looked as though he would refuse, but another glare from Won Soo sent the man running after a dusty traveler farther down the road.

Free at last, Won Soo heaved a sigh and continued towards the magistrate's office. Unfortunately, now that he was no longer accosted by attention-hungry entertainers, his mind switched to its most familiar pastime: worrying.

Won Soo felt like banging his head against a wooden post when he recalled his most recent distressing thoughts. Foremost among them was, as usual, the state of his master's health; only, this afternoon had brought about a slight change in that subject. For, suspiciously soon after Won Soo had observed his master meeting with a strange woman in the courtyard of the inn, Young Min had commented that his legs did not hurt as much as they had previously.

Ordinarily, this news would have delighted Won Soo, but it was paired with the fact that they would be prolonging their stay in the village before continuing on to Miryang. Apparently, that meant they were also going to rescind their accusations of Soo Mi Nam and set him free.

Won Soo wasn't sure what Young Min had talked about after meeting with that scrawny boy earlier in the day, but suddenly Young Min had changed his mind about Mi Nam's suspicious circumstances. After Young Min had left the magistrate's office, Won Soo had been ordered to return later that afternoon to accompany the criminal out of prison. And so here he was, storming through the courtyard of the magistrate's office in the direction of the jail, as Young Min wished.

Either the illness was now affecting his master's brain instead of his feet, or there was something Young Min was hiding. Won Soo didn't like it one bit.

"For you," Won Soo said after one of the guards had released Mi Nam from his cell. The servant unceremoniously dumped the bundle he had been carrying into the lad's arms.

The young vagabond cast a nervous look over his shoulder at the cell behind him before refocusing his attention to the bundle that had been bestowed upon him. "Uh...thanks," he said in a nervous, unusually high-pitched squeak.

Won Soo brought up the glare he had used on the street performers earlier. "You'd better be on your best behavior, understood?" he said, turning to lead the way out of the building. "If you so much as lift a finger to harm my master..." He trailed off, letting the threat hang.

"I wouldn't harm anyone, especially your master," Mi Nam assured, following closely behind. Then the newly-freed criminal peered around Won Soo and cleared his throat. "Oh. Is he not here?"

Won Soo narrowed his eyes and looked back at the dirty young man. "What difference does it make to you?" he asked.

Mi Nam looked a bit disappointed, but shrugged it off and hoisted his meager sack of belongings over his shoulder. "I just wanted to thank him for letting me go before I left."

Here it was-the final order that tested Won Soo's loyalty. Either he could lie and send the suspicious, smelly lad on his way, or he could carry out his master's wishes, no matter how much he disagreed with them.

"He..." Won Soo took a breath. "He says you're to come with me back to the inn and wait for him. He has one last thing he wants to tell you."

At this, Mi Nam seemed to perk up. "Oh?"

Won Soo tried to ignore the suspicion churning in his gut. "Yes, oh. No need to sound so pleased. Doubtless he just wants to reprimand you one last time for your uncouth behavior before sending you on your way. If you think it's a chance to rob us, you're sorely mistaken. He won't let you out of jail a second time."

Astonishingly, the young man seemed not to hear him, and instead had the audacity to break out into a wide grin as he fell into step beside Won Soo. He was definitely up to something. Won Soo knew he would have to keep a careful watch on this one.

Avoiding the route that the performers were camped out on, Won Soo lead them back to the inn. There, they waited outside for a little over an hour before Young Min finally joined them. Where his master had been earlier, Won Soo didn't know, but he could tell by Young Min's drawn expression that the relief from pain that morning had only been temporary.

Won Soo cast a suspicious glance over at Mi Nam as Young Min approached them. Had the magic he heard Mi Nam talk about been weakened when the suspected robber was put in prison, only to return once Mi Nam was free again?

"What spell did you curse my master with?" Won Soo demanded in a low voice, knowing that Young Min didn't take stock in the supernatural and wouldn't approve of the accusation.

Mi Nam gave a start and looked over at him with wide eyes. "I didn't. What you heard yesterday was a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Won Soo repeated disbelievingly. "I return to find you babbling about magic and spells, and you claim innocence?"

"I have no reason to curse anyone."

"We'll see about that," Won Soo muttered as Young Min came within hearing distance.

Young Min seemed to sense that his servant had been up to something he would disapprove of, and his expression changed from one of pained endurance to one of suspicious curiosity.

"What have you two been talking about?" he asked Won Soo.

"Uh...our mutual dislike of the rainy weather," Won Soo supplied.

"Well. So nice to see you two getting along." By his tone, Won Soo could tell that Young Min didn't believe him one bit.

Beside him, Mi Nam poked Won Soo with his elbow. "I actually happen to like the rain," he hissed under his breath.

Won Soo glowered back, and the untrustworthy young man blushed and looked away. Young Min cleared his throat.

"Won Soo," he said. "Would you mind letting me speak with, um, Mi Nam for a moment?"

Won Soo narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Whatever you say to him you can say to me," he replied petulantly.

"Let me rephrase that, then," Young Min said. "Won Soo, let me speak with Mi Nam, alone, now. That's an order."

"He's a malicious criminal and not to be trusted!" Won Soo protested. "Have I not proven myself to be loyal? Why can't you trust me to stay and hear whatever it is you talk about? You've barely even known this person for a day!"

There was a moment of stony silence as Young Min considered. Won Soo rarely ever spoke out against his master's wishes, but here, in a place far away from home, with a worrisome illness plaguing his master who seemed to be colluding with a possible member of a gang of thieves, Won Soo couldn't help but feel a bit more anxious than usual. He didn't think he could handle being left out of important conversations on top of everything else.

"Fine," Young Min finally said. "But I don't think you're going to like what you hear."

Won Soo doubted he would like it, either, but, "Anything is better than thinking of 'what-ifs' all day," he said.

"Very well." Young Min took a deep breath and turned to face Mi Nam. "I believe I've located the thugs you mentioned who were after me."

Won Soo felt the blood drain from his face, but tried to remain calm. After all, he didn't want Young Min to regret his decision of including his servant in the conversation.

"Oh?" Mi Nam asked, a bit hesitantly. "Where are they?"

"That's the thing," Young Min said matter-of-factly. "I believe they're following right behind me." Won Soo couldn't imagine how his master was managing to remain calm while relaying this information.

"F-following?" he squeaked, in almost a high a pitch as Mi Nam's voice. He cast a glance around Young Min, where sure enough, a group of five or six large, burly men were dawdling in the street, watching them. He was starting to regret being included in the conversation. Had he really thought it would have brought him peace of mind?

Young Min gave a humorless smile. "Yes."

"What do we do?" Mi Nam asked.

Young Min shrugged. "I guess we try to lose them. We could split up-"

"Not in your state, young master," Won Soo objected. "I mean no disrespect, but I am not about to let you run the risk of encountering any of those criminals with your current poor health. It would be lacking in my duties as your servant."

"Do you have a better idea?" Mi Nam asked, nervously chewing on his bottom lip.

Won Soo wiped his clammy palms on his pants, trying to think through his racing thoughts. Every nerve in his body screamed at him to jump up and run away, but what kind of loyal servant would he be if he left his injured master to fend for himself with only a stranger of questionable morals as backup?

"We won't be able to get to the horses in time, it looks like," Young Min observed, casting a glance over his shoulder. "At this rate, I'd say they'll move in to catch us as soon as we start walking away from the inn."

"The performance!" Won Soo suddenly exclaimed. Mi Nam and Young Min turned to look at him curiously.

"Performance?" Mi Nam asked.

"There's a group of traveling performers putting on a show this evening," Won Soo explained. "Other people from the inn must be attending as well. If we can go in a big enough group, we should be able to reach the performance and then slip away in the crowd that came to watch." If there even is a crowd, he thought. Hopefully the performers hadn't scared everyone off completely with their aggressive marketing strategy.

Young Min and Mi Nam exchanged a look. Finally, Young Min gave a slow nod.

"There," Young Min said, pointing out a group of five guests who were leaving the inn at just that moment. "Excuse me!" he called. "Have you heard of the incredible performance that's come to town?"

The visitors shook their heads in confusion, and Won Soo took the opportunity to step in. "You should come with us," he offered. "We're on our way now. I've heard it's supposed to be unforgettable. It would be a shame to miss it."

What seemed to be the leader of the group shrugged amiably and nodded to his companions. "Lead the way!" he said. "We were about to get drinks, but this sounds like much more fun."

Won Soo led the way with a pounding heart and sweaty palms. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the thugs down the street shift into motion and follow them-an ominous, foreboding shadow.

========================================================

Goodness, with that look you're giving me, you'd think I was a terrifying dictator. I didn't force the performers to go out and petition for a large audience that evening...I just encouraged them a bit. Well, a lot. I was quite enthusiastic about it, actually. But I didn't force anyone. Do I look like the kind of person who would do that?

Okay, you're right, I would do something like that. But I didn't in this case.

I'd also like to point out that for once, that nobleman's servant was using his brain. Safety comes in numbers, and their best chance was indeed to lose their pursuers in a crowd. And what better crowd than the one come to see the performance that would break Park Young Min's curse and finally pay off my debt to Kim Nara?

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. They never do.