Chapter 6 Continued.........
The first thing that Choi Young notices when he walks through the gate is that he can hear loud music playing. The noise makes him frown in disapproval as the party which was reported as commencing at lunch time in the temple seems that it will continue until late into the night. Choi Young uses the noise from the music to guide him to the venue where the party is being held now. Upon entering the venue courtyard that is full of dancers who dance to the music that are is being played by musicians while scantily clad female servants mill around to serve a never-ending stream of food and alcohol all of officials from Gaegyeong he notes who were also notified and summoned to greet the King on his arrival. The courtyard is so noisy that Choi Young prepares to summon everyone's attention by first nodding to Chung-Seok to signal that he should be prepared, Chung-Seok nods to indicate that he is prepared.
Choi Young then gathers a deep breath into his stomach to project his voice to boom like thunder as it commands attention with its impact, "DEOKSEONG BUWONGUN KI-CHEOL! PLEASE STEP FORWARD TO ACCEPT THE COMMAND OF THE KING!" Finishing what he said he makes eye contact with Deokseong Buwon-gun Ki-Cheol who sits in at the end of the room on an elevated/high seat, because of course he knows who he talks to and knows that Ki-Cheol does not know who Choi Young is.
Choi Young has been working hard for the past seven years, in the shadows, behind the King he protects and out of the sight of everyone, maintaining his anonymity. Today he shows his face compelled by the state of his body which he judges may endure for two to three days to all those people who are interested in knowing, especially Deokseong Buwongun. Choi Young is determined to take care of this mission as quickly as possible and leave the palace, determined to hide all traces of him and the Heavenly Lady. Choi Young stands inside the banquet room close to where he has entered flanked by his second and third command. They make an imposing view, especially after the way Choi Young silenced the celebratory atmosphere with his demand.
Ki-Cheol who sits at the head of the banquet room with his guests sitting with their individual tables and drinks on either side lined down the length of the room leaving the middle free for the servants to use as they enter to bring the different courses to serve and top up the drinks, stands up and walks towards him. Ki-Cheol appears relaxed and approaches Choi Young with a smile that exudes a confidence in his unrivaled authority and states "I am Deokseong Buwongun Ki-Cheol. You must have heard that all the ministers are gathered here."
Choi Young whose eyes have not left Ki Cheol's' gaze says with a steady yet firm voice "The King has sent his congratulations on the happy occasion of the Ki family." The silence that follows is long and it makes Choi Young aware of how long it has been since he has been able to change his clothes and how it was a long, long way from the garden to here, and it is going to be a long, long way back before he can even have the chance to change his clothes. The silence is broken as someone starts clapping, the others joined in, and they start to laugh which also increases in volume, until Ki-Cheol holds up both his hands up one on each side palms up to indicate to his guests seated on either side to silence his guests.
Chung Seok feels embarrassed for them as he stands beside but slightly behind Choi Young, at the same time he hides his disgust at their behaviour. Ki-Cheol then asks, "I am really curious as to what gift His Highness has entrusted you to give to me?" He looks behind the captain who holds nothing at those that flank him from behind and notice that they also do not hold anything and then says, "It makes me really impatient to know what he has given me."
Choi Young then moves forward to stand directly in front of Ki-Cheol and is interrupted by his vision blurring making it hard to focus, he looks down to hide his weakness from his opponent and to clear his vision before looking up again. In this same moment Ki Cheol is unaware of his struggle and waits for him to present the Kings' gift. Choi Young then says in a low voice, "Prince of the Court from Deokseong." Ki-Cheol responds, "I am listening."
Choi Young laughs in disbelief as he then continues in a firm voice filled in reproach as he says, "Since it is so loud in here, you may not have heard it correctly. What you are to accept is…. the King's order." Ki-Cheol chuckles at this statement which makes Choi Young explain, "The King has returned to his home country after 10 years…. this is His first Royal Order. His will." Ki-Cheol nods, eye close standing with his hands behind his back, waiting in anticipation. Choi Young's gave intensifies as he proceeds more firmly then before, "Therefore, as if you are in front of his Royal Highness, you should kneel and lower your head to the ground." The last part is said as more like a command and makes Ki-Cheol's eyes snap open, as any amusement disappears from his face. Choi Young continues in a more measured but firm tone, "Accept it with the utmost respect in accordance with the Court rules." Ki-Cheol stands there as Choi Young then looks behind him and his third in command steps forward to present Ki-Cheol with a rolled-up scroll.
Ki-Cheol looks at Choi Young and then the scroll that is being presented to him, nods and then grabs it forcibly. While he is looking at the closed scroll that he holds, Choi Young says, "Ki-Cheol, Prince of the Court from Deokseong." He moves forward to stand closer to Ki-Cheol as he says quietly, "But as it seems that your family is having a celebration, it must be annoying to receive the Kings Order in such an atmosphere. Should we continue this in a more private place?" Ki-Cheol's face whose impenetrable facade has not changed suddenly cracks as amusement at the situation that he finds himself in makes itself known to the opponent that stands directly in front of him.
Ki-Cheol starts to laugh out loud as he stands smiling out right at Choi Young who seems to be smiling back. Choi Young and Ki-Cheol remain standing so close that their bodies have no space between them right shoulder touches right shoulder while Choi Young's face is so close that he can look straight into Ki-Cheol's ears or look into his eyes. Ki-Cheol remains still not appearing intimidated, even though no other person has dared to get this close to him in his experience.
The martial art skills he has acquired are quite high and normally that would make normal people wary of him, let alone the inner energy that allows him to freeze any opponent that confronts him, also make people more afraid of what he could do to them if he is not happy or when they do not comply with his wishes. Choi Young speaks low into his ear so that he is the only one that hears what is said, "By the way, from the looks of it, there seems to be a slope in this house. Do you want to give this peaceful place a reputation of a slaughter occurring?"
Ki-Cheol then approaches the kid and tries to put his hand on Choi Young's shoulder. Choi Young cleverly avoids Ki-Cheol's attempt to put his hand on his shoulder by turning his body away from the hand that is coming his way, while knocking the same hand away and stepping away from Ki-Cheol, to put a distance between them and stop any further attempts to touch him. The whole interaction where Choi Young avoided his touch increases Ki-Cheol's happiness as it has reflected that this kid has not only a good spirit but is also very good at martial arts. The people who are watching the whole interplay between the two, get goosebumps at the standoff between Ki-Cheol's and the Captain of the Woodalchi seems to come to a stalemate. Ki-Cheol then breaks the stalemate by saying, "After all it is the King's will."
When they reach Ki-Cheol's study looks at Choi Young with an expression of contemplation, trying to recall if he encountered him at all in the past, but finds it difficult and he knows that he would remember someone like this, so he asks, "What did you say your name was?" The answer is "My name is Choi Young, and I am the Captain of the Woodalchi" at which Ki-Cheol smiles happily, as he wonders if this young thing was like this because he could not tell the difference between heaven and earth, so he says affectionately "It has been a really long time since I slept."
He continues to look into the eyes of the kid, who looks back like nothing can shake him and seems to be looking into a bottomless pit. Ki-Cheol wonders 'Where has this kid has been hiding all this time? How can I make him submit to me?' Choi Young then asks, "What do you mean?" Ki-Cheol chuckles as he then tries to persuade the kid, who watches him intently, "Life is about having as much of these things if not everything it offers. The problem is that because of these few people, thousands or tens of thousands of poor people which are like silverfish that eat everything. The poor are nothing but insensitive, shameless beings with no self-esteem which are multiplying like damp mold, gradually covering the world, to live in a non-human-like way. Why care about other people's pain when we can destroy their world instead?"
Ki-Cheol's words make Choi Young wonder if he seems like a person where shame, manners and pride has disappeared, that enables this person to think that he can be indifferent to those poor things, that he can relate to, but makes this person think he can be swayed by such a reasoning. The fever Choi Young suffers from makes all types of thoughts make him more determined to stop living as a warrior in this world, where he takes someone else's life to enable him to cling to a world which is already hard to survive in. All he can think about is quitting this role to live a simpler life where he can spend the day fishing and making dumplings, instead of living precariously day to day. The motivation to finish the mission the King has given him has increased.
Back at the herb garden Eun-soo had wandered all day, bored from waiting and waiting for that psycho to return. Now it seems like it is going to be dark soon and there is still no news from that psycho. The young girl introduced to her as the owner of the herb garden had brought her food, but the kid could not hide her hostility. The kid stomped around, facial features clearly showing her displeasure, refusing to acknowledge or make eye contact with her and was back up by her actions of practically throwing the plate onto the table and growling at her when she asked for some water.
Despite this Eun-soo ate all the food provided no matter how hard it was swallow due to the kid then watching her from the door in an intimidating way. She had learned firsthand the importance of being able to eat even one meal from when she was an intern. The food provided reminded her of Im's own side dish apart from the taste, as the food lacked the red pepper powder that the side dish contained. The difference makes her wonder if she was in a time before red pepper it was imported. After finishing all the food Eun-soo walks around the herb garden to keep herself occupied as she wonders when they will feed her again as it had been a long time between when she was kidnapped to now, when she finally was given food.
Another thing that worries her is that she does not know when that psycho is going to return. Unfortunately, as she walks the pants that were the right length for her height when wearing high heels, is now dragging on the ground which makes her trip and fall several times. It is the reason she hurt her knee earlier, which had been throbbing constantly in pain which does not surprise her as when she inspected it earlier there was a huge bruise starting to form on it. Fed up with the too long pant legs she opens the pouch she keeps her surgical tools, to find and pick up the scissors to cut them so they are now knee length. Normally good at cutting bandages, she finds it difficult to cut the pant legs since they are thicker material, and she is doing it while still wearing them.
The length of both sides of the pants changes as she tries to make them appear the same length, instead making them shorter and shorter. Why isn't that Psycho coming? Even the Oriental medicine doctor has shown his face. Deciding she will not wait any longer for him to make an appearance. Eun-soo packs her surgical tools, takes some medicinal herbs and places them with the bandages, disinfectant to tie up the material to carry, she leaves the herb garden to find the Psycho. The memories of how she got here and how to make it back are all blurry, so she makes her way through the palace finding it was like an infinitely large and complex maze, making it hard to navigate. Seeking direction, she tries asks a people who walk in her towards her, or she approaches them before she passes them. The way the react varies when the see her some runaway as soon as they see her or freeze in shock making them unable to respond, while those that give her directions are not many and do it with clear apprehension, it makes her confused but follows the direction given. Eun-soo finally can see the grand gate from a distance.
Relieved she makes her way towards it, but as she gets closer, she recognizes the armor that the men wear who stand across the entrance to block her way. She is not going anywhere, she looks at them until she is taken by surprise at the wild child who she recognises that comes running, smiling at her. He tugs on her sleeve and moves his body impatiently to indicate that she should follow him. Curious she follows him towards a two-story building which looks like a barracks, where he pushes the door open and tripping over in his haste to fall to the ground where he rolls and scrambles back up onto his feet.
Eun-soo pauses is surprise at his actions and then enters the building. Looking around the building appears to be accommodation and it surrounds a yard, which has a large round hall in the center of it. Registering where she is she asks the Psycho "Is that the central building? Is this Woodalchi's lodgings?" Taiwan freezes completely at her questions and then nods his head and then makes and series of actions that confuses her at first. He takes his hands and places them on his stomach bending over and then his chest as he falls to the ground lying flat. Eun-soo realizing what he is trying to communicate says, "Your captain? You know where he is?" He nods his head frantically before taking one of her hands to walk her through the barracks.
Meanwhile, in the accommodations word has gotten out of her presence and the men emerge out of their rooms to look. The number of which surround all sides of the barracks, her presence and the way that she is dressed causing an uproar. Wolf whistles can be heard as she makes her way past them and they all follow her, curious about her presence. The actions make her eyes roll as it seems that men and soldiers act the same no matter if they are in modern day Korea or Goryeo. Eun-soo notices that the wild child has stopped outside the central building, and she asks him "Where is your bastard of a Captain?" The kid raises his hand which shakes with reluctance and points to a place inside. It takes a moment for Eun-soo's eyes to adjust but she can make out Choi Young who is surrounded by people.
At that time, in the central building of Woodalchi Barracks, the people who surround Choi Young are leaders that are in the process of having a meeting. The center of Jungangdo Park is a large sand slab, where a watermelon competition is being held now. Normally It is used as a place to practice martial arts from training to sparring each other or to hold competitions which help determine the positions in the Woodalchi. Around it is terraced seats in a semi-circle which are used to seat spectators and can be used as a resting place or a conference hall. In the top tiers Choi Young is almost lying down, eyes close his positioning serves a dual purpose of emphasizing his position and keeping his distance from his subordinates, who watch as others spar with each other.
The third in command enters to discuss what has happened back at Ki-Cheol's residence. Approaching Choi Young the third in command starts the conversation with, "I feel like my life was shortened by 10 years." He then asks him, "Where on earth did you get the scroll? You never received a Royal Order to go to Ki-Cheol, The Prince of the Court." Choi Young then pulls the scroll out to lob it at the man who catches it and then opens it to look what is inside. The other guards that are present also look curious to see what it contains. Confused his third in command asks him, "What is it?" Choi Young answers simply, "The list of people killed at Sun Hwe Jeong." The third in command know the captain better than the others ask him, "Is this the one you showed?" Choi Young answers "No, the one I showed was different one. It was bait."
Choi Young then recounts the interaction with Ki-Cheol's when presented with the list, looks at it briefly before looking at him to ask "This…" which he had informed Ki-Cheol in a matter fact tone "We discovered it at Sun Hwe Jeong." Ki-Cheol's face shows his understanding, and the gravity of what Choi Young is showing him, when Choi Young proceeds to explain, "I am not so academic, so I do not understand what it means. Therefore, I came to ask you for your wisdom, My Lord."
Ki-Cheol not believing what he heard clarifies, "My wisdom…" at which Choi Young interrupts with, "That was his order, to have Ki-Cheol, Prince of the Court from Deokseong, help Woodalchi, General Choi Young investigate and reveal everything about this incident. So, would you like to make a copy of this list? Then you can analyze it, right?" The third in command voices his understanding, "So, Prince of the Court from Deokseong is the fish you want to catch with the bait?" Choi Yong answers, "I do not know." His man then asks, "Will he take the bait?" Choi Young getting a bit bored with the interaction answers, "I said, I do not know." His man persists with "What if he does not takt the bait?" Which is the final straw for Cho Young who sits up to throw things at the third in command and the men present who duck to avoid being hit by the flying objects as the captain demands, "Aigoo, let me sleep! GET OUT!"
They all go to leave, when suddenly Taiwan kicks down the door before jumping in, taking them all by surprise as he tries to communicate. Unfortunately, the child who stutters on any normal day is stuttering twice as much, making it hard for anyone understand what he is saying, as he points to the door. Deokman then jumps in to also try to inform them of what is happening outside, but just results in both not being understood.
Dolbae deciding to take matters in his own hands hits him in the back of the head with an open palm and demands "What is the big deal? That you make so much of a fuss about." It was then that the noise from outside starts to get louder as all the Woodalchi that have left their rooms in the Barracks are making their way to the room. Dolbae looks a Choi Young who frowns and even Chung-Seok stands up angrily as they suspect that there is going to be a fight on a grand scale.
Deok-seong has noticed that the captain's complexion which had not been looking the best since earlier, seemed to be getting worse after leaving Buwongun's house and coming here, where it became noticeable that he is breathing heavily. He had almost dismissed the idea that he could hear the heavy breathing coming from the captain but had paid close attention to recognize that he was deliberately restraining himself to avoid being caught. The plan was to finish the task quickly and let the captain rest. Unfortunately, with the fuss of all those guys outside makes him move towards door to the entrance to see what all the fuss is about and hopefully intercept or stop it the crowd from entering the room.
Deok-seong is taken by surprise when the door suddenly swings open unexpectedly as he is just about to open it himself and he moves to quickly step back to avoid being hit by it. Normally good at judging how far the noise comes from and the time it takes for whatever makes it to appear, it takes him a moment before he recognizes that the person who opened the door to the entrance was the Heavenly Doctor, who now walks in with most of her legs showing. His first reaction is to almost whistle at the sight and barely swallows it before it escapes his mouth, choosing to choke on the air as he forces it down. He hastily looks away from the legs that are exposed to the thighs, focusing on the numerous men that have followed behind her, which now stop in their tracks at his now stone expression, but not before some have been able to spill into the room and now make a semi-circle around either side of the door to watch what will happen.
Choi Young who remained lying on the top of the tiered stairs, opens his eyes to see what the commotion. At first, he thought he was feverish and what he is seeing nothing but his mind playing tricks. He tries to convince himself that what he sees is not there, as it is impossible for a woman to enter the Woodalchi barracks where only men are allowed. Let alone the Lady from Heaven who wears an outfit that exposes her legs. All those who have seen it on her journey here will talk about and spread like wildfire. Choi-Young's dizziness increases just thinking about, how can she wear such an outfit and not care about the gazes of men. He notices when her eyes look straight into his without any hesitation and can see the play of emotions on her face as she sweeps his figure lying on the step.
The moment Eun-soo sees him, she feels her heart sink at the obvious decline in his condition from when she last saw him. The Psycho's attempts to look fine, while propped up sitting is failing. The condition of his body is clearly seen on his face, that he is dying slowly. She has been so worried about how and where he was, not getting any answers from anyone about what he looks like. Eun-soo has be picturing him lying alone without anyone noticing and being rejected in her attempts to monitor the progress of his wound healing. She feels angry at how her concerns have been dismissed and it is hard for her to deal with someone who is reluctant to be treated. Normally from her experience while working hard as an intern and a resident, all patients came to us on their own or with encouragement from those that they loved.
To break the silence, she says firmly "I have been looking for you." Eun-soo has started to walk towards him while talking, but he does not even flinch or make a move. She assesses where she stands to where he lies and really does not want to climb to up there. Her legs are shaking, and they feel so sore and weak from all the walking she has been doing that she does not trust her ability to climb the steps to get to him. She demands to the Psycho who lies out of her reach "Come down here."
The man does not react and just looks at her, which makes her say even more sternly "Do you not hear me? Come down here. Take off your top." He still does not move at all, but gasping sounds are heard from behind which she decides not to ignore. Deciding to act more dignified and like a doctor she says, "You do not want to come down? Then I will go to you." After saying the last part, she starts climb to the top of the steps, grunting, groaning and negotiating the height of each tier, concentrating on not losing her balance to trip and fall.
Finally reaching him with the last of her patience she demands "Take off your clothes, so that I can check the surgical area. I need to see how it is healing. I do not have a stethoscope, but at least I try to use percussion. How is the fever? Give me your hand." She barely goes to his side, to grab his wrist, when he slaps her away. The sting of the slap brings tears to Eun-soo's eyes as she cries without realizing. She closes her eyes and takes some deep breaths to get her emotions under control she tells herself, 'It's not like you've seen only one or two sick patients in your life.'
Opening her eyes as regains her intent to keep calm and display the persona of how a doctor should act, she takes out some bandages from her bag, the action comforting her and making her able to explain to that Psycho, "Do not worry. I did not want to hold you hand. I just want to check your pulse." Eun-soo stretches out her hand again in anticipation of him complying with her intention but is taken by surprise when he does not move. Instead, he has noticed the all the subordinates that crowd the room and the entrance to watch what is happening, he demands angrily when he reaches the bottom, "Who is on guard today?"
The men all squirm under his penetrating stare, but remain, making him challenge them with, "Is this a place that anyone can just come and go as they please?" Eun-soo says quietly but firmly, "Give me your wrist." Which makes him look at her still not complying with her instructions and commands, "This person… escort her back to the Royal Medical Clinic." He the stands up and walks down the stairs in one motion at a speed that takes not time with his long legs. It takes Eun-soo by surprise who cannot help watching his quick descent, the ease of which makes her groan at all the effort she took to get up them, which was now wasted.
The men who have watched what has been happening state are triggered to leave with his motion. Eun-soo watches his back as he is clearly determined to leave which triggers her anger at his clear opposition to being treated. She storms down the steep steps losing her temper, throwing her bag at his back as she yells, "Hey, you crazy guy! What did I do so wrong?" Taken by surprise he looks behind him to duck to avoid the bag making contact as she continues "A person who was living well where I was before you caught me and brought me here!" causing her to almost her balance as she climbs down.
The Psycho holds his hand out to assist her, but she swats it away to continue by herself, to reach the bottom where she runs up to him and throws her bag at him, which he catches and continues to hold as he looks at her in surprise. The way he looks holding her bag gives her a sense of de ja vu and makes tears start to well up. Eun-soo panics as she tries to control herself say "Oh s##t! Do not cry' but it is impossible to control as everything that has happened overwhelms her and everything she wants to say starts to come out like vomit as she cries. "I finally bought my own office Tel of just 15 pyeong last year. I still have a lot left on the loan, that I am paying now. I know that it does not sound like much, but it is still my house. My days are simple, I work, I go home, I shower in my bathroom, I put on my pajamas, and I sleep in my bed. I want to sleep in my bed.
Instead, you kidnap me. Bring me here where you do not even feed me properly." The last bit makes her break down and crying so hard she sits down to do it, with no end in sight. Choi Young looks on, confused and uncomfortable, not knowing what to do as her cries fill the room. When it seems like she is going to stop she continues with her emotional rollercoaster as she says, "I thought it was all a dream, that I just fell asleep and did not wake up. But it is so real. I stabbed someone, and they said they would let me treat it, but they would not even let me touch it. Then you tell me what to do. Yes, I stabbed you, sorry."
She concludes in frustration and then pleads with him, "I am sorry. Please get some treatment. Even if it is not me that treats it let the other doctor treat you." As she then continues to weep. Something unknown rises in Choi Young, he throws the bag he holds to the ground and then approaches the unsuspecting woman. He crouches down to places his hands on her slender shoulder, stands her up with him and then pushes her forward only to stop when her back meets the pillar, the action of which makes them both stop moving and the woman stop crying, taken by surprise at the whole action. Choi Young's eyes look steadily into her surprised ones.
He almost loses himself in those eyes that are wet from the tears they have spilled, shaking his head, he removes his hands from her body, as he turns his attention back to the subordinates who have been watching everything quietly demanding "What are you all looking at?! Should you not be returning to what you are supposed to be doing?!" Chung-Seok came to his senses first to herd the men out of the entrance they spilled through and currently crowd through, out before closing the door to leave the captain and the Heavenly Lady alone in the room.
Choi Young watches the door to close, fully aware that things have happened that should not have happened and in full view of all his men, stands rooted to the spot to regain control over his mental focus. He looks back at where the Heavenly Lady still stands and notices that here are still tears in her eyes as she looks at him. It makes him wonder what it is about this woman that her eyes alone can break his self-control like that?
Recalling the whole incident makes him angry which is clear as he moves without realizing what he is doing closer to the woman. He watches as she becomes frightened, which makes him even more angry, which triggers her to try and duck to the side to escape. He blocks her escape by extending an arm to hit the pillar with an open palm and results in his body being so close to hers that there is sliver of space between them that a sheet of paper could pass between them and asks in a low threatening voice "So, what did I say?"
The woman confused about the whole situation asks in a sobbing voice "What?" He explains, "Next to the heavenly gate, the spot where you stabbed me with my sword?" she looks at him as she recognizes what he is talking about as unfortunately, she was not the type of person to just ignore this person and ignore what happened. "I told you to go and leave me alone. Why on earth did you say you would save me? Do you even know what trap I am in now? Because of the King." The woman who was scared a little while ago, now the woman loses her temper, "It makes sense. So do you want to die?" she steps forward as her anger grows "You can die. What about tomorrow? From the looks of it in your current condition, you have sepsis."
Choi Young's intent stare is drawn to that mouth as the words come out of it, while his other senses are invaded with her scent and the feel of her hair as it brushes his hand as her head moves while she talks. In attempt to regain control of the situation he says in a threatening way, "Be quiet. Do not go around talking freely to anyone about me being mortally wounded or that mouth…I will surely make it close properly."
Eun-soo ceases talking leaving her mouth open, dumbfounded as she looks at Choi Young. Whose attention has not wavered from those lips that now look defenseless as they are stunned into silence. He decides to move back to allow a greater distance between them as he cannot be so full of her womanly scent and feels that his anger towards her has disappear.
After taking a few more steps and increase the distance he feels like he can breathe properly again, and it enables him to regain his senses. "Do not wander freely in the palace, and do not enter this kind of barracks, which are full of men." He states calmly but firmly, "The guys outside will escort you back to your room, so please wait there patiently, until my work is done. Do You understand?" She looks at him in resignation before moving drawing attention to her, bare legs, making him look away as he says, "One more thing, please cover you lower body. I do not know how clothes are in Heaven, but in this land…." He blocks her from moving past him by putting her arm out which the woman grabs pulling it to herself, he twists his hand to pull it out of her grasp.
She stubbornly grabs it again to holds onto it while and places her hand on his forehead to check his temperature and then on her on forehead to compare whether he is suffering from a fever. Taken by surprise at the whole turn of the tables he notices when her expression which had been confounded, with traces of the tears that had tracked down her face change to one of anger and frustration as she exclaims "Your temperature must be over thirty-eight degrees..." This makes Choi Young pull away from her touch, embarrassed by her brash and dominating actions.
Eun-soo rummages through her bag and takes out something, which she pulls out and holds it up explaining, "I will give you my emergency aspirin, it has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects. You must take two pills at a time, three times a day. I do not know how big the effect is going to be, but it should be of some assistance since you have never taken it before." Choi Young looks at what the woman the holds in her hand; it seems to be a bottle that is see through and contain several small, white, round, pebble shaped, objects that almost fill it.
The woman has her head down so he can not see her expression, he waits for her to lose her temper or start crying but is surprised when she speaks in a low voice which trembles as she keeps her eyes lowered, "You cannot get sick." Her tone makes him feel guilty, he would rather she cried or lose her temper, the way she is acting makes him at a loss of what to do. Questions pop up in his head like 'Are you worried about me?' she continues to hold the bottle of medicine in her outstretched hand as she mumbles something he cannot quite hear asks her ""What?"
The woman then raises her head to look into his eyes, the earnestness she feels is reflected in her eyes and in the tone of voice she uses to convey the earnestness of her message, "Don't die." The unexpectedness of what she has said to him, makes him think he is hearing things responds "What?' The woman then repeats herself with adding more to the initial message, "Don't die, I know you are a psychopathic killer and I know; I am your prey and that I am alone here. But how would I be able to return if you die? So please stay alive."
Choi Young is unable to move in awe of the earnestness the woman exhibits sees her Choi Young. The woman unaware of the effect she has on him, takes advantage of his inability to move and takes his hand with her empty had so that he palm cups the back of his hand to guide his open empty palm to put the medicine bottle in it. Choi Young can feel how cool the woman's hand feels that holds his own hot hand. Her touch was so gentle that it reminded him of flower petals that have brushed against the back of hands as he walks through fields of grass and wildflowers.
Before he knows it, her hands let go and he is still holding the medicine bottle that she has placed in it. It remains in his hand until Choi Young comes to his senses, when he notices that she turns away and walks through the door, closing it as she leaves. He is left holding the bottle of medicine that the woman had given him, when suddenly he loses his balance, as the effects of the fever he is suffering from makes his consciousness suffer from vertigo which makes him stumble and collapse, dropping the bottle of medicine from Heaven, to use the hand to brace himself to keep him from contacting the floor. Once he regains his focus and balance, he sees the bottle rolling away from him and makes the effort to grab it as he gets to his feet in one sweeping motion. left behind, and she dropped it. He looks at the small transparent bottle with the little, round, white, pebble shaped things inside, that the Heavenly Doctor gave to him, it makes him more determined to not die.
The End of Book 1
To be continued in Book 2