Chapter Eight | Opening the Bottle

Ryu's POV

It was the next day already and I was glad to see Wook was no longer on his knees out in the cold courtyard. My legs started to feel just the way they were before the Soul Shifter tried to take my energy. I was feeling much better today and when seeing Maidservant Kim at Jeongjingak made me happy.

"Maidservant Kim!" I called out with a bright smile before running over to her and Wook.

The middle-aged woman turned away from my cousin and smiled back at me but she immediately had on a worried look when she called back, "Young Miss! Please don't run!"

I shortly laughed at that and stood in front of her. "Aigoo! Young Miss! You two have no idea how much you worried me when I heard what happened!" Maidservant Kim exclaimed making me and Wook look at each other with nervous eyes.

But the scolding didn't continue.

"How are you? Master Park told me that the Soul Shifter almost took your energy and that from the aftershock you couldn't walk."

"Ah, Maidservant Kim, you don't have to worry too much. I'm feeling better now and I can walk fine! You saw me running earlier, right? See. Nothing to worry about."

Then Wook joined in saying, "That Soul Shifter should have known not to mess with Ryu, Maidservant Kim."

"Oh? What else happened?" Our guardian asked curiously.

Wook pointed at me and answered, "Ryu here cast a spell that threw the Soul Shifter across the courtyard. It was a pretty bright red color, too."

Maidservant Kim looked at me with a look that gave me a weird vibe. Does she know about Hwan Geom? Or anything related to the red energy that came out of me? 

But then she smiled at me proudly and patted my shoulder while saying, "You truly are your father's daughter! Look at you, my dear. You've been reading those books nonstop and now you've finally mastered some difficult spells. Aigoo, I'm so proud of you!"

I forced a small laugh while thinking to myself if I got it wrong. Maybe Maidservant Kim really doesn't know about my ancestors.

Then Wook spoke up again. "Let's go already. I need to change into new clothes," he said and looked around as if looking for someone.

"Will you be staying with us, Young Miss?" Maidservant Kim asked, making me look back at her.

I thought about it all night if I should head back home and help Wook with his Naksu-Mudeok situation but I recalled how he can take care of himself around her and that I need to check if there are any books about Hwan Geom in the library since I wasn't able to do it last night with the Soul Shifter incident.

I smiled at Maidservant Kim and shook my head. "I have to stay. They might need my help finishing up last night's incident," I lied as naturally as I could.

Maidservant Kim took it and nodded her head before handing me a small lunch box. "Here are some snacks. I remember when you first started training at Songrim... You kept asking Master Park if you could come back home because you missed my cooking. I thought maybe these snacks will help you recover faster from what happened last night," she explained with a motherly tone.

I pouted and took the small lunchbox. "Thank you, Maidservant Kim!" I said as I fought back the tears, "I did miss your cooking recently."

The middle-aged woman softly laughed and patted my cheek before saying, "Make sure to visit when you're not too busy, okay?"

I nodded my head quickly with another smile. "Okay, no worries! I will!"

"Maidservant Kim! Let's go!" Wook called out from behind her.

I sighed while Maidservant Kim shook her head. "I'll be going now, Young Miss. Take good care of yourself," she told me before walking over to Wook who waved and smiled at me.

I waved back and then watched as the two left Jeonjingak through the doors. Then I looked down at the small lunch box and opened it. I smiled and laughed out loud when seeing its content.

"Ah, the infamous honey biscuits," I whispered as I took one and ate it, "Mhm... I'm missing Maidservant Kim's cooking again."

Ha. Ha Ru. Ha Ri. Ha Jin. Heo. Heo Ryung. Hoon. Hoon Joongki. Hwa. Hwa Rang. Hwang. Hwang Eui. Hwan. Hwansu. 

I stopped the second there weren't any more books in the H section. "Don't tell me that is all that Songrim's library has?" I muttered under my breath in shock and confusion.

I checked the bookshelves again and again and again. But there really are no books with my ancestor's name. I started to think about what kind of books he'd be in and walked to the other side of the library. Since Hwan Geom was a blacksmith then there should be a book about him in the weapons category. I excused myself around the male mages in the aisle as I looked for anything related to blacksmiths. But I didn't see any that is until Cha Beom showed up with a very thick book in his hands.

"Cha Beom. What's the title of that book?" I asked right away as I stood in front of him.

The male mage from the Cha Clan raised an eyebrow at me and answer with a question, "Why? You want to read it?"

I mentally groaned at his answer and said, "I just want to know what the title is."

Then Beom closed the book and read the title out loud, "Daeho's History of Swords."

My eyes widened at the title and I reached my hands out to check it but Beom pulled the book away from me. "You said you just wanted to know the title," he exclaimed with a mocking tone.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance and wished that I could just cast a spell on him to shut him up but I'm still recovering from last night's incident so I held my temper back in.

"When will you be done reading the book?" I asked gently.

"Maybe by... tomorrow?" Beom replied back with a shrug, "It's a thick book after all."

I can't wait till tomorrow. I really need to know about my ancestor and figure out what that red energy was. It couldn't be Hwansu as I haven't mastered Chisu yet. I just need a little bit more information about Hwan Geom to give me an idea of what it is that I have.

"Can you maybe lend it to me just for a few hours?" I asked while eyeing the book.

Then Beom scoffed at me, "For a few hours? Really, Ryu?"

I looked away from the book and back at him in surprise. "Did you just scoff at me?"

The older mage rolled his eyes at me and took step toward me before saying, "If I had known that you were the one who wanted that book about Daeho's literature then I wouldn't have let Yul borrow it."

Wait, Yul? Daeho's Literature? Is he talking about the book that belonged to my aunt?

"I'm sorry but what are you talking about?" I asked totally confused.

But Beom didn't answer my question. 

"You have always been this way since we were younger. You kept borrowing books and never returned them when you were done. Do you know how many mages you've pissed off? You're stalling us from learning!" He exclaimed with an angry tone.

"S-stalling?" 

I never thought I was doing something like that this whole time. Everyone knows that a mage of Songrim has its own way of training and learning. We all have our own pace. But maybe others wanted to learn right away instead of taking their time.

"Yes, stalling," Beom said as he took a step back, "Just because you're the late Assistant Gwanju's daughter, you think you're higher and better than us. You always had Master Park and Master Heo's favor. Women shouldn't even be training here in Songrim. You should have just gone to Jinyowon."

I clenched my fists on my side and Beom noticed this. "Tsk. You and your tempter. When will you ever learn?" He spat before walking away.

So many emotions were riling up in me. I had no idea that was how the other mages thought of me. I've been too busy training with Yul and Danggu so that one day once I master all the spells that there are, I'd be able to help Wook open his Gate of Energy even if he hasn't found himself a master. That was my entire plan since that day 6 years ago. But so many things happened over the years. And now that Wook has found his master, I've started to realize that everything I've been working on has come to nothing. Even if I do master Chisu and learn every spell it would not mean anything at all. 

My father was the Assistant Gwanju whom everyone knew would be one of the most powerful mages of Daeho along with my uncle, and my mother was a well-known crafts maker using moon beads with her energy while there's me a female mage from Songrim. I'm the very first to join Songrim as a girl. Every other mage that joined were all boys. I thought it wasn't a good idea for me to join in the first place but if I had gone to Jinyowon then I wouldn't have moved on from the nightmare that kept haunting me both in my sleep and when I'm awake. I was supposed to enter Jinyowon and train under Lady Jin but after Buyeon's disappearance, I couldn't handle the fact that my first friend would no longer be there with me. So I begged Maidservant Kim to ask Master Park if I could train at Songrim instead.

And a few days later, he took me in.

I was relieved and glad but at the same time, I was scared and worried that the other mages would hate me and disagree with my training with them. But Yul and Danggu have always been there for me since the day I joined. They made sure that I was comfortable around the male mages and that I'd be able to learn without feeling discouraged by the rumors about me and my family. They both made everything seem easy and made me believe that there wasn't anything wrong with me being there. This has been happening for 10 years. 

"For 10 years...  I thought they all finally accepted me..." I muttered under my breath as I left the library.

I just kept walking, ignoring everyone that had to move to the side as I almost bumped into them. Memories from before took over my mind as I remembered how the male mages were glaring at me with cold eyes. I honestly believed that I've gained their respect right after I mastered Jipsu and Ryusu but they all were internally hating on me.

"Ryu," someone said as I passed by another group of mages.

I didn't bother to turn around, scared that it was just another mage like Cha Beom who is going to talk bad about me. But whoever called my name, gently grabbed my arm and made me turn around to face them. I see the familiar dark green jeogori and a bird flute tied to the belt's side. I knew who it was and tears started to form in my eyes. I didn't want Yul to see me like this so I looked to the ground. All the emotions from the past 10 years came rushing back like a wave and even my feelings for Yul resurfaced.

"Ryu, did something happen?" Yul asked worriedly.

I gritted my teeth, not wanting to say anything as I started to cry quietly. Maidservant Kim never liked this side of me. She always told me to cry out loud as it was bad to let it in. But that was the only advice I never took from her. I don't want others to know how vulnerable I am so I never cried in front of them nor do I cry out loud. It has always been this way. I keep it in all the time and bottle it up, hoping that one day I can let it all out somewhere far where I'm all alone. But here I am crying in front of someone who I never wanted to see me like this.

"Ryu-" 

I cut Yul off the third time by taking a step forward and hugging him. My head lay on his chest where I could hear his heart beating. The last time I hugged Yul like this was when he came back from Danhyanggok with a broken leg. I was so worried that something bad had happened to him but when I saw his memory from that day, I pulled myself away from him and made sure that that would be the last physical contact we would have. That is until now.

"Sorry, but can we just please stay like this for a bit?" I asked softly, "I've just had a rough morning."

I can feel Yul nodding his head and after a few seconds, he wrapped his arms around me. His right hand patted my back while he hummed my mother's song. I shut my eyes as I listened to him and the dancing tree nearby. I felt at peace in this little moment and wished that it would last for a long time.

- end of chapter eight -

word count: 2222

not yet edited !!!

🌼 a/n:

lemme cry... they say a man ain't supposed to cry... so ima let the song cry--

Anyways, I thought of publishing a filler chapter before getting back into the storyline but then I wanted y'all to see how Ryu is being treated in Songrim since we've already seen how she is with the Masters, Yul, and Danggu. I'm glad the Hong Sisters came up with the character of Cha Beom in AoS because I needed someone to diss Ryu even for just one scene. 😂😂😂 And after watching ep 12 last night, I knew that Cha Beom would be the best fit for getting on Ryu's nerves. 😇 I also decided to add in Ryu's thoughts about how she joined Songrim and why. The why part though isn't the full-on explanation. I'll have that out in the other chapters once we reach eps 8-11. Ayt ima yeet because I need to go out soon.

Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! 🧡

Oh, and #Ryul, anyone? 🤧

- k.

// ps. idk if any of you caught on with ryu's ability to see other people's memories... did anyone notice? 😂✋🏻