𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐋𝐄 ♕ 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐊

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲

Wook knocked on Gaeun's door late in the night. When he didn't hear her answer, he entered anyway and found her asleep on her bed by the window. There was a curtain of sheer around her, to keep the bugs out without blocking the midnight breeze.

Wook slipped under the net and sat beside her on the bed, waiting to see if she would talk in her sleep. Gaeun had a habit of mumbling and muttering while asleep and only Wook had had the privilege to hold conversations with her in that state. It was one of the most guarded secrets he kept from the world.

He would've waited longer had he not been short on time. "Gaeun-ah," he touched her hand that rested over her blanket gently, "Gaeun, wake up." When she refused to move, he asked, "Are you still mad at me?"

Gaeun's brow creased as she shifted. "I'm going to be," She grumbled, voice thick with sleep, "if you woke me up at this ungodly hour for what I think you want."

Wook chuckled, "I wish that were the case but no. Mu Deok stole the Spirit Plaque to sneak into Songrim, most probably to get her sword back."

She peeked at him through one tired eye and kissed her teeth soundly, displeased. "And you're going after her, I presume," she sat up, fixing the collar of her thin vest.

"Well...yes—why are you getting up?"

"Because, my idiot-husband," Sighing seemed to be her favourite pastime, seeing how often she did it, "You cannot be found alone in a corner of the capital with your maid in the middle of the night while your unaware wife is asleep at home. Honestly, it's like you lack parallel thinking skills or basic common sense."

Wook crossed his arms and said smugly, "That's why I have you."

Gaeun nudged him off her bed, "I heard that there's an investigation going on to find the body Naksu now occupies. Your Mu Deok—"

"—she's not my—"

"The mages must be on high alert and security will have increased," she continued, pushing the net aside to step out from under it, "Naksu still needs to adjust to her body so she will not be able to sneak around or blend in properly. If she runs into Lord Park or Seo Yul...Seo Yul's the cleverest person I know—"

"—Really, now. He's not necessarily—"

"—and if he comes across Naksu then it won't take him much time to put two and two together—what are you doing?" Gaeun stopped pacing around her room and raised a brow at Wook, whose gaze had been following her around, "You just said we're short on time. Get me my robe, please, so that we can leave."

Wook blinked at her, taken aback by her orders. "Of course," he nodded stiffly, "As you wish, my lady wife."

♕♕

Songrim was attacked just as Wook and Gaeun separated in the backyard to search for Mu Deok.

Gaeun had paused in the middle of a vacant corridor, somewhere in the East Wing. Hearing the sounds of battle in the distance, she grew worried about Wook who had one measly dagger to protect himself. What was worse was that he couldn't use it properly either. Gaeun had attempted to spar with him a few times but it had always ended within five minutes, leaving him sulking in his room.

"But then again," she mumbled as she began walking, "He's too slippery to get caught in a fight here."

Gaeun smelled smoke in the air and moved in its opposite direction, towards Jeongjingak, knowing that whatever had been set on fire must have been a diversion for the intruders to escape. It didn't take long for her to spot Park Danggu, heir of the Park family and the nephew of its current leader, Park Jin. He was following the commotion that even she had heard from one of the old store rooms.