Two | Meeting Mudeok

Ryu's POV

I clenched both of my fists and turned my head to face the people who just talked behind my brother's back.

"Did you hear? Jang Wook got kicked out again!"

"Tsk! He'll never get a Master to open his Gate of Energy."

"He should just give up."

 I see a group of Junior Mages talking amongst themselves, their voices getting louder with every sentence that came out of their mouth.

"It's funny how he keeps bothering every Master in Daeho," a tall guy said with a snicker.

"What about him being the illegitimate son of Gwanju Jang?" His friend asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"I've had enough of it," I thought to myself as I walked over to the group quietly.

"Ah, you're right about that one! That family is full of secrets. Even his sister is something else," another guy said and laughed out loud. But his laughter subsided when his friends all looked at me. "What's wrong? Something happened?"

He turned around, his face that had a happy smile turned into a panicked one when he saw me.

"Something would happen if you don't get down and apologize."

"L-lady Jang!" All three of them squawked as they got down on their knees.

"We didn't mean what we said!"

"We were just joking around!"

"Please forgive us!"

I raised an eyebrow at them and sighed. "If I ever hear foul words coming out from that mouths of yours, you won't hear from me but from Master Park. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, my lady!" They exclaimed out loud as they bowed down to the ground.

There were so many things I wish I could say and do but I didn't bother.

"Get up and go back to your training," I said before walking away to clear my mind off of what just happened.

Just when I was about to head to the Library, I hear the familiar voice of someone from behind me.

"I was worried for nothing," Seo Yul whispered.

I turned to face him and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yul chuckled. "I thought you were going to beat them up but you didn't. You've finally learned how to control your temper."

"I think you've got the wrong person, Yul. I can control my temper very well," I said with a forced smile.

"Oh, really?" Park Danggu asked when he showed up beside me.

Then he added in, "Says the girl who threw Yul's books in the lake after losing a duel during training. Also, that one time when Master Heo scolded Wook, you released the goats out of their cages and let Wook lead them inside the storage room... Master Heo lost his mind when the goats ate most of the herbs."

I glared at him and kicked his leg in irritation.

"OW! JANG RYU!" The blonde called out in pain. "SEE, WHAT I MEAN! YOU AND YOUR TEMPER!"

Yul held back his laugh but he still smiled at what had happened. Then he looked at me and asked, "You wanted to borrow that book about Daeho's Literature and Poems by Ahn Hyojin?"

My eyes went wide and a smile escaped my lips the second I heard about the book I'd been wanting to read.

"Yes! Is it back in the Library now?" I asked eagerly.

Yul nodded his head. "One of the Senior Mages brought it back earlier today. I also kept it under my name in case anyone wanted to borrow it."

I clapped my hands together and squealed in delight. Then I grabbed Yul's arm and started walking to the Library.

"Let's go and get it!" I exclaimed, ignoring Danggu who is now jumping on one foot to follow us.

"Yah! Wait for me!" He called out before landing on the floor with a loud thump.

I stopped to face him and stuck my tongue out. Then I dragged Yul with me as Danggu stayed on the floor with a pout.

"Danggu will surely get back at you for that," Yul whispered as we head down an aisle in the library.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and whispered back with furrowed eyebrows, "Danggu is all words and never actions. I know that he'll never hurt me."

Yul smiled at that and then stopped walking. "It's here," he said as he grabbed a thick yet small book from a bookshelf.

He hands it to me and I took it from him in excitement. I gently opened it and held in a squeal. But I gasped out of nowhere when I read its first page.

"Wait... This is the very first edition?!"

I looked at my tall friend and heard him chuckle. "I heard that Master Park got it for Lady Dohwa when they were just around our age," he explained with a hushed tone.

I smiled at that and nodded my head. "I'm guessing you already knew that," Yul said as he smiled back.

Everyone knew that the Head of Songrim had feelings for Lady Dohwa since they were young. But I never thought that Danggu's uncle was that serious about her. After all Jang Kang, my uncle and adopted father, who is the Gwanju of Daeho, ended up marrying Lady Dohwa and they both had Wook. I try my best not to linger too much into someone's past love life but after finding out that the book I have always wanted to read was originally supposed to be in the hands of my aunt, I started to wonder what had happened between Master Park and my adopted parents.

"Thank you, Yul," I spoke up with a smile as I closed the book. "This really means a lot to me."

"Anything for you, Ryu," my friend said as we both started to head out of the library.

"Oi, Danggu," I called out to the blonde boy.

My friend turned around with a bitter look on his face, making me laugh mentally. Then he spoke up, "What do you want? To kick my other leg? Tsk!"

I stood in front of him and smiled. "Would you let me?" I teased, earning a scowl from my friend.

Then I added in, "Alright, I'm sorry for kicking you earlier. I was caught up with my emotions after hearing those Junior Mages talking bad about Wook. I may or may not have let it out on you a tiny bit."

Danggu raised his eyebrow at me. "A tiny bit?"

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Okay, maybe not a bit. But still... I'm sorry for kicking you."

"All is good, Ryu," Danggu told me as he patted my head.

I tried to swat his hand away but he was too fast. I glared at the boy before saying, "So, I heard from your uncle that you're going to head over to the brothel to find Wook. Am I right?"

Danggu looked at me cautiously and replied back, "Yes, you are right... Where is this going though?"

"I want to come with you."

"Aha, but my uncle wouldn't want that."

"Did he say that?"

"Not exactly..."

"Then I'm going."

"But-"

I ignored Danggu and started walking. A few seconds later, he is walking beside me while muttering under his breath, "I'll be dead when my uncle finds out you're leaving Songrim."

"Yul will take care of that," I reassured him, making the blonde sigh to himself.

"Stay here," Danggu told me as we both entered the brothel in Gisan.

I crossed my arms over my chest and mentally groaned. "Just hurry it up and if you see Wook, tell him I'm here waiting," I said before Danggu could leave.

I watched my friend walk away and heard Gisaeng Joowol's voice from afar. I shooked my head at the reunion between the two and looked away. I was staring off into the distance when my eyes caught someone. Danggu and Joowol both passed by this person and I wonder if she was new here since it was my first seeing a blind person in the brothel. Once Danggu and Joowol were out of sight, I walked over to the blind person quietly and stood beside her.

Why the sudden interest? Honestly, I don't know. But there's something off about her and no, not because she was blind.

"She gives off a weird vibe..." I whispered out loud, gaining the stranger's attention.

In a quick and swift turn, the blind woman faced me, making me stagger a bit backward.

"Woah-" I exclaimed in surprise but she cut me off with just one word, sending shivers down my spine.

"You."

I gulped the nonexistent saliva down my throat and spoke up, "M-me?"

"Yes. Who else am I talking to you?" She asked with a straightforward but impolite way of speaking.

"Uh, yeah... Sorry," I muttered under my breath with a nervous chuckle.

Then the blind woman asked, "Where is the exit?"

I raised an eyebrow at her and almost laughed. "Exit?"

"Yes, the exit!" She said again this time in a harsher but hushed tone.

"I'm sorry but why are you looking for the exit?"

"...Why else would I be looking for the exit?"

She's funny. But then again why is a servant looking for the exit- Then it hit me.

"Ah, you're trying to run away," I said, making the blind woman nervous. "I'd help but Joowol unnie is on her way here already."

I noticed the blind woman grit her teeth and this made me chuckle to myself. Joowol showed up in time and smiled before greeting me.

"Ryu, I'm guessing you're here to find the Young Master, too," she said while standing beside the blind lady.

"That is right, but since this is a brothel, a lady like me can't enter inside," I said while rolling my eyes.

Joowol laughed and added, "Don't worry about finding him, Young Master Danggu has already found the room he is in."

"That's good then," I smiled in relief and looked back at the blind lady before asking Joowol, "By the way, unnie. Is she new here?"

"Ah, I almost forgot. This here is Mudeok. She was sold to us by her former caretaker and will be working in the brothel starting today," she explained gently with a smile.

Then she turned to look at Mudeok and said, "Mudeok-ah, this here is the Young Miss of the Jang Clan, Lady Jang Ryu."

"Jang Ryu...?" Mudeok asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That is right." Joowol nodded her head.

3RD POV

The second Park Danggu walked inside the room he crossed his arms and sighed out loud in disbelief. He sat down right after looking at his friend and the huge, orange crab in the middle of the table. "Goodness," Danggu spoke up. "Thanks to you my uncle has to go all the way to Gisan to beg for the monk's forgiveness. Meanwhile, you are here enjoying this damn crab."

Jang Wook looked at his friend as innocent as he could and said, "No, I have not eaten it. It is such a hassle to eat." Then he looked at the crab and smiled. "I am glad you came. Now, break the shell with your spell."

Danggu couldn't believe what he just heard he just laughed and replied back, "Unbelievable. I do know how to crack the shell and pick out the meat. But maybe... I should use that spell on you, and not the crab."

The 20-year-old smirked at his friend and started explaining that if the monk had been kind to him then he'd probably learned how to cast spells by now and that he wouldn't have left the way he did.

"What good is it if you cannot do it?" Danggu asked while shaking his head. "Your dad blocked you from casting any spells."

"Then that monk should have helped me break that. That's what masters do. They help their students."

"No one in Daeho is brave enough to go against your dad like that."

"But some live fearlessly. For example... The Shadow Assassin, Naksu."

This caught Danggu off guard. "Do not be ridiculous, Wook," he said, sounding nervous.

But Wook continued on. "I heard she is so skilled that even the leader cannot beat her."

"But she is dead!" Danggu exclaimed.

"Her soul left her body," Wook pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "So that means she might still be alive."

Danggu faked a cough and leaned on his side of the table before asking, "Where did you hear that?"

Wook crossed his arms over his chest and answered, "Do you think I am here just to eat crab? This is the fastest place to hear everything that goes on in Daeho."

Then he added in, "Talking about the crab... Pick out the meat already."

Danggu sat back in his place and sighed as his friend continued to order him around. "Put those spells into good use and pick out the crab meat," Wook exclaimed, quite obvious that he is hungry.

"Aish! Yah! Why can't you pick out the meat yourself, you lazybones!" Danggu hollered at him.

 Wook looked at him totally flustered and shocked by the other boy's reply. Then Danggu stood up and said, "I'll be back. Ryu's been waiting outside since we both got here."

This perks up Wook's interest at the mention of his sister. Then he smiled at his friend and said, "Do bring her here. She'll definitely pick out the meat for me."

Danggu shook his head at him and left. In a matter of minutes, Ryu came barging in through the door and almost scolded Wook for leaving Gisan after 6 months of staying there. But when seeing and sensing how hungry her brother is, Ryu just sighed out loud and sat down across from Wook where Danggu was at.

"Where'd did Danggu go?" Wook asked when he noticed that only Ryu showed up.

"He went to wash his hands," Ryu answered while looking at her brother.

Wook faked a cough and asked, "You're not going to scold me?"

"Being 9 months older than you has its perks but no, I'm not going to scold you this time," Ryu replied back as she raised her right finger and started to cast a spell to crack the crab's shell.

"Knew that you'd do it for me," Wook said happily that his own family member would do just this one simple thing for him.

Then Ryu smiled at him. "This makes you that happy, huh?"

"I'm hungry right now and you're about to save me from starvation. So yes, I am happy for just this one, small thing."

The shell was cracked seconds later and just when Wook was about to eat, Ryu stood up after hearing Joowol shouting from down the hallway.

"THIEF! CATCH HER!" 

"Thief?" Both Wook and Ryu asked in sync.

- end of chapter 2 -

Word Count: 2395

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