After Hyun-woo regained his strength to train again, Yeong-hwan wasted no time and began training with him. After training for a while with him, Hyun-woo noticed that the boy was much more skilled than him, he wasn’t sure what was so particular about the boy, was it the way he swung his sword with such gentle moves, yet powerful, or was it the fact that each of his moves happened so fast that sometimes, it would be hard to follow them? Skeptical at first, Hyun-woo regretted that he had doubted the boy’s abilities. Truly, he was someone from whom he could improve his own skills.
For the following days, they kept the same routine: in the morning, they would train until it was time for lunch, and after that Hyun-woo would train by himself for the rest of the day, as Yeong-hwan had his other activities. Yeong-hwan was reserved, but as the days passed by, the two of them got to know each other. When Hyun-woo finally confessed about what had happened to his family, he was quickly surprised by the fact that the boy had already figured out that he had lost someone important to him. When asked why, Yeong-hwan responded:
‘Maybe it was the way you swung your sword at me. It was reckless, you had many openings, and still you never doubted your abilities. As if there was nothing to lose anymore. That’s how I figured it out.’
‘It’s hard to believe that what you said could be true.’
Yeong-hwan turned his head around, looking at the boy: ‘Then was it wrong? My doubt?’
To this, Hyun-woo didn’t have any answer to give to him. He was indeed right. After explaining everything that had happened, Yeong-hwan wasted no time in asking Hyun-woo a delicate question.
‘What about your sister’s husband? Why was he the only one who escaped without a trace from the massacre? Your father died, your sister died, the few people that attended the ceremony died, so where did he vanished? Isn’t this suspicious?’
‘It it… Yet how can I track him down, how can I find the ones behind it? I am not prepared.’ Hyun-woo responded
‘Isn’t that why you came here? To become better? To have a higher chance to find the ones who did that?’
Yeong-hwan was right. Before, Hyun-woo hated the idea of leaving his home to go train somewhere so far away, but after having to face the death of his family, he was left only with this anger that tainted his heart. If this was the right choice, only time will tell him, but as for now, he had found in his new friend the strength to push forward.
‘You know what I was wondering? You’re so skilled, yet why didn’t you apply for the military? Don’t you want to follow the same path as your father? If you were to join the military, as skilled as you are, it would be very easy for you to rise in ranks and gain a stable life, so why don’t you do that?’ Hyun-woo asked Yeong-hwan the moment the took a break from training
‘If that kind of life would be so easy to achieve. In fact, I find no meaning in doing that. I would rather do anything else than join the military.’ Yeong-hwan continued
‘Then what is it that you want to do?’
Yeong-hwan paused. His expression changed. From the emotionless expression he wore when he was asked about joining the military, he now became tormented by emotions. He put his sword down and closed his eyes. As if he was recalling a memory over and over again, he found himself shaking his head. He sighed.
‘If it were for what I would like to do, I would like to become a historian. To be able to write how the history unfolded, as it was, without any lies, I think it would hold a much more meaning to my life. The fact that I could take part in writing history.’ Yeong-hwan confessed
Hearing his response, Hyun-woo respected his decision. He could have joined the royal military troops any day, as he was skilled, but he wanted to remain true to himself. Because of his response, Hyun-woo thought to himself that maybe that was why his father was this strict with him: because he didn’t want to follow the same path as him.
Time fled quickly and the days Hyun-woo spent at Yeong-hwan turned into months, and the months turned into years. Only when Hyun-woo reached the age of 15, did he and Yeong-hwan felt prepared to pursue their own path, but soon, they would learn that the world wasn’t how they imagined.
Without hesitation, they walked towards an uncertain future, and that future, as they would soon learn, would be filled with misery. Little by little, the two of them lose the meaning of their road. Hyun-woo, although trying for more than a year, he could not find any leads in regards to the ones behind his sister and father's deaths. He couldn’t even find anything about the one his sister was about to marry. His father was always calculated, he would not marry his daughter to someone he did not trust, so why, if that man was someone to be trusted, why did he vanish without any trace? Was there something behind his disappearance related to the death of his family? This question followed Hyun-woo many years, but he always found no answer to it.
On the other hand, Yeong-hwan struggled with his decision. Without his father’s approval, he followed his dream to become a historian, but only then did he find out how the people were truly. In fact, being the son of someone well known in the military has stained his reputation. People mocked his decision, calling him a fool and a scared cat that did not have the courage to serve the kingdom. The people’s hatred towards Yeong-hwan grew even bigger and soon, he found himself being disqualified from the contest. The reason? People were afraid that his father would pull the strings from behind and give him the position, so they got rid of him, despite everything being all a lie.
Soon enough, both of them faced consequences of their actions and had to flee the Palace. Yeong-hwan, who was accused by everyone that he had someone to back him out, never heard any apology. In that sick world he lived in, not a week after he was disqualified, he found out that his father was brutally murdered. Now, it was time for Hyun-woo to be by his friend’s side, and the best thing for them to do in that moment was to retreat, to hide, to stop drawing any negative attention.
Yet the two of them knew that they wouldn’t give up so quickly. If one way was blocked, that didn’t mean the other was. Yeong-hwan found a way to cope with everything that had happened to him: he decided to become a writer. If it wasn’t for him to be a historian, then the other way for him to write history was to become a writer As for Hyun-woo, he knew that the ones behind the murder were hard to find, so a way to have a clue about them was to gain every bit of information from all the nobles he could meet, and so, he started crafting jewelry once again, and created elegant pieces of jewelry that even the wealthiest families wanted to buy from him.
Like that, another five years had passed, and right now, there was another person who could help the two of them in their plan. This time, they had Yu Na by their side, and with her presence, opportunities also came. It seemed like it was the perfect timing. Until the contest was almost 2 months left, and there was enough time for them to go somewhere safe and think about their plan.
After hearing Hyun-woo's side of the story, Yu Na couldn’t help but feel sad for what he went through. The two boys had had a hard time and were each other’s support, so, Yu Na felt a bit out of place, but the two of them made her feel like she wasn’t good enough to be by their side.
‘So, that’s why I would advise you to think and contemplate about this decision. If you feel like it may be too much, then it’s okay.’ Hyun-woo spoke to the girl
‘If you do not want to take part, we could find another way to make everything work.’ Yeong-hwan continued
‘No, I already made up my mind. If my help could be useful to the two of you, then I want to help.’
The two agreed to her, and after that, Hyun-woo spoke: ‘Then we shall prepare. This house isn’t safe anymore, it would be the best if he can leave tomorrow morning.’
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