It had been a week since ceramics master Seok Ji Hoon's arrival, and the thief who had robbed him was yet to be found. Gong Il Woo had been stewing ever since Jimin had told him the news of the potter's arrival, and he was becoming increasingly certain in the strategy he had planned out with the help of his servant, Kang Dae. Yes, the plan would work, and he would get his revenge for his public humiliation at the hands of a certain young nobleman.

He was just missing a key ingredient.

"Is there still no sign of him?" Il Woo snapped irritably as his servant stepped through the doorway of the nobleman's room. He had been asking the same question for the past seven days, always with the same answer-Kang Dae would throw himself to the floor and beg for his master's patience. But why would Park Young Min spend so long traveling away from his home? Il Woo couldn't understand it, and he hadn't been able to get much useful information out of Jimin's cryptic responses and her maid's occasional slip-ups of information.

Yet, today there was a change. Instead of going about his usual routine of sniveling and groveling upon having no information on the subject, the servant actually gave a smile.

"Park Young Min has been spotted coming back into town," Kang Dae informed his master. "It seems that his mountain pilgrimage is at an end."

"Finally!" Il Woo jumped to his feet. "There's no time-we must hurry!"

Kang Dae bowed. "Of course, young master," he said solemnly.

"You know what to do. Arrange for the ceramics master to meet me in the town square, and make sure Jimin is present."

"Yes, sir."

"And make sure the magistrate is there, and tell him to bring his guards!"

Il Woo started pacing the room as soon as the servant had left to do his bidding. He mentally reviewed his plans for a final time, checking for any possible flaws. But there were none, he was sure of it.

Time seemed to pass at an intolerably slow pace before Kang Dae returned with the news that Seok Ji Hoon had agreed to meet with Il Woo just outside the parchment store in the marketplace. Word had also been sent to Jimin's maid that there was a terrific sale at the neighboring fabric shop-an event that the young noblewoman would indubitably hate to miss.

Il Woo picked up his gat and secured its smooth black strap firmly under his chin. He took a deep breath and focused on staying calm-something he did not do very often.

At least the walk to the marketplace was not long, Il Woo reasoned to himself as he headed to the arranged meeting place, his servant a shadow at his side. Now that the nobleman's plans were very nearly at fruition, he wondered how he had managed such patience for an entire week as he waited for his rival's return. In fact, Il Woo congratulated himself on keeping his temper-he had only thrown a teapot at a kitchen maid once that past week!

The young nobleman and his servant arrived at the parchment store before the ceramics master, which pleased Il Woo-he would be able to see Seok Ji Hoon approaching from a distance, and perhaps strike a nonchalant pose in the meantime.

Il Woo tried leaning against one of the wooden posts in front of the store, but his shoulder slipped and he stumbled backwards to keep his balance. Wisely, Kang Dae made no indication that he had noticed, and so Il Woo cleared his throat and smoothed out his hanbok. Perhaps, he decided, it would be better to just cross his arms, instead.

It was an unbearable fifteen-minute wait before Seok Ji Hoon finally came into view at the far end of the street. When they were within speaking distance, Il Woo gave a bow-perhaps not an entirely respectful one-and began to speak.

"I hear you have been looking for a thief," Il Woo said.

"Indeed I have," the master of ceramics replied, his voice tinged with curiosity. "Might it be you have information for me?"

Gong Il Woo thrust his chin higher and gave a self-satisfied smile. "You are correct. I think I know just the person you are looking for-in fact, they have just been spotted approaching the village less than an hour ago and should be here at any minute."

"And you are sure this is the person I am looking for? But how did you know?"

Il Woo smirked. "Oh, well, one as well-educated as me should know such things, should one not?" His gaze drifted across the narrow street, lined with shops and crowded with carts, to the fabric shop on the right, where a pale young noblewoman stood before a sampling of patterned material, running slender, small fingers over the different textures. Behind her, the dark brown eyes of Jimin's servant peeked anxiously over her mistress's shoulder.

Briefly, Il Woo and the servant's eyes met, but the girl quickly ducked her head and looked away, seemingly suddenly interested in something else. Il Woo followed her gaze to the flash of red fabric and glinting of sun-kissed steel that leisurely wove between the mass of shoppers and errand-runners in the street. A smile slid over his face. The magistrate had arrived; now, everything was ready.

"I must say, I am quite impressed," Seok Ji Hoon said. "However did you find the thief so quickly? For a bit of time, I thought the culprit dead-"

"Dead? Ha!" Il Woo scoffed, bringing his attention back to the man at his side. "No, not dead, just hiding."

"Ah," he nodded. "Yes. Tricky to find, that one."

"The black horse was a good clue, though," Il Woo continued.

"Black horse-?" A puzzled expression crossed Ji Hoon's face, but Il Woo took no notice, instead stepping forward out into the street.

"There!" Il Woo pointed to a figure in the distance, riding a large black horse next to a shorter man in servant's clothes on a small gray mount. "There is your thief! Magistrate! Arrest that man!"

The magistrate, who had just gotten abreast of the two noblemen, nodded and let out a stuttering "Y-yes, sir!" Il Woo watched with some satisfaction as the man and his men surged forward, like scarlet fish swimming upstream through the crowds, weapons gleaming as brightly as scales in the sun.

Il Woo cast another look over to the fabric shop, where Jimin and her attendant had stepped outside to locate the source of the commotion.

"I'm not sure what you've heard, but I do think there has been a bit of a mix-up," Ji Hoon said, breaking Il Woo's concentration. The young noble turned to the man with a cross glare.

"You are looking for a thief who rides a black horse, who just a few weeks prior attacked you and threatened you with your life unless you surrender all your valuables to him?"

The confusion etched on the older man's face only deepened in the furrows across his brow. "Wherever did you hear of such a notion?" he asked, his voice growing loud and gruff with annoyance. "The thief I am looking for is a woman. And what's all this nonsense about a black horse and threats? I refused to be threatened by anyone!"

With these final words, the ceramics master puffed out his chest, much in the manner of an indignant feline, and turned to stalk away from the young noble who had so grievously offended him. Il Woo could almost envision the dismissive flick of the man's imaginary tail.

But Il Woo's thoughts soon turned to other matters-mostly, of the woman whose lies had caused him such humiliation. His glare landed on Jimin and her maid, still watching the magistrate and his men running after the irritating Young Min. Upon seeing the guards advancing, the noble had turned his horse and sped away from the market, his servant not far behind. The magistrate wouldn't be able to catch them in time.

It was the maid tugging at her lady's sleeve that finally drew Jimin's attention to Il Woo's presence as he stormed across the street. Il Woo shoved the maid aside and pointed an accusing finger at the young noblewoman.

"You!" Il Woo sputtered furiously. "You lied to me!"

Jimin squared her shoulders and jutted out her chin. There were dark circles under her eyes, as though she had not slept well for some nights now, but her gaze was as sharp as ever.

"You dare accuse me of falsehood?" Jimin defended. "You were the one who just now was so hasty to accuse my-to accuse Park Young Min of thievery! How dare you? On what grounds?"

Il Woo's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. "You were the one who made up the story about Seok Ji Hoon's thief! Do you deny it?"

"Keep your voice down," Jimin hissed, casting an anxious look to the street behind Il Woo, where passerby were turning to look at them.

"Don't avoid the question," Il Woo growled. "Maybe I falsely accused Park Young Min, but it was only because you lied to me first. Do you know what embarrassment you've caused me? I will certainly be telling my father of this."

"I think your public shame cannot entirely be my fault," Jimin shot back, pointing an accusing finger. Her hand trembled, and she quickly returned it to her side at Il Woo's pointed look, but continued with her statement. "For a noble scholar who serves as a model of education and intelligence, you were certainly foolish. What proof do you have that Young Min is the thief? Tell me, how quickly did you jump to this conclusion? Do you know how many other people in Joseon ride a black horse?"

"He has a sense of untrustworthiness about him," Il Woo defended. "Your story matched up perfectly with his demeanor-it was obvious!"

Jimin took a step forward, narrowing her eyes angrily. "It was not obvious and you know it," she said. "You lied about him just as I lied about the thief-yes! I'll admit it. I knew only the basics and elaborated on the details for the sake of a good story. But I meant no harm! It was you who set out with the sole intent of harming another's reputation. You knew Young Min was not the thief, and yet you were so hasty to frame him anyway. So I wonder, just what else have you lied about? If it's anyone with a sense of untrustworthiness about him, it's you, Gong Il Woo."

Il Woo bared his teeth in a sneer, not liking how close Jimin was to uncovering his own lies. Instead, he defended his insecurity with a vicious offensive jab. "I wouldn't be so hasty to defend your ex-lover," he said. "After all, he's the one who abandoned you for some vague mountain pilgrimage. And word has it that he's not the honorable man he claims to be. You wouldn't want to get mixed-up in his disreputable lifestyle. People might start to...assume things."

Jimin flushed hotly, the color flooding her tired and wan face in an angry scarlet stain.

"Get out of my sight, Gong Il Woo," she snapped, and brushed past him angrily. "Come, Sujin," she called over her shoulder. "We're going home."

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It's at times like these that I'm thankful I'm not a dreary mortal. I don't think I could bear such trivial little altercations. Perhaps human lives are so boring that you lot must feel the need to enliven it with tiresome arguments every now-and-then? Well, I don't envy you.

Now, what does this little incident mean for Young Min, now that Il Woo has gone and royally messed things up? Ha! Nothing every runs smoothly, see?

Well, it just means I'm left cleaning up the mess, as usual.

This is why I don't like to leave my mountain.

I DID IT.

Finally posted this!

Thank you so much for your patience, dear readers. I started my practicum/internship almost 4 weeks ago now, and while I enjoy it immensely, I've been crazy busy ever since. Do you know the pain of needing to write but being unable to? That was me. I've been writing little snippets when I can, and tonight I decided to just bite the bullet and get this next chapter posted! So I'm not going to have as much time to write this summer, but I'll do my best! Please let me know if there are any mistakes or anything since I'm posting this in a hurry.

Chapter dedication to belladonnafox for all her wonderful support! Check out her book Guardians, Magic Rising!

Have a great week! Goodnight!