Scarred Hearts (Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo Fanfiction)

The Lake

Go Ha Jin was running from the loan sharks.

It was her boyfriend's fault. He used her name to take that loan then he suddenly disappeared with the money and the rest of Go Ha Jin's savings that she could not pay those loan sharks even if she wanted to.

The only thing she could do was ran as fast as possible and prayed hard that she really could escape from them... but... there was this man in front of her who suddenly loses consciousness and fell off the lake...

Go Ha Jin could never ignore anyone who needed help. It was her second nature... it was her curse. Closing her eyes, she jumped off the lake to save that man but as soon as she took hold of his hand, a strong current pulled her deep, drowning her together with that man...

What have I done wrong to deserve a miserable death like this? I only trusted that cheating man... and I... only helped this man... but why... why am I dying like this? I don't deserve this...

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Wang So was running for his life.

He was dizzy from the food that those Shinju people feed him. They did not want him to return to the palace or to his adoptive clan. They tried another poison on him... but he was still a little fortunate that it was only a weak one. It only made him dizzy... but still... they were running after him... with maniacal smile on their face. It was pleasure for them to get rid of him... but he would not die.

He could not let them kill him. He needed to go back to the palace and make his parents love him.

He kept on running until he had seen a lake. It could wake him up and he could hide there for a few minutes... or he could swim until he reaches a safer place. With all the strength and consciousness left within him, he ran to that lake and swam as far as he could. The ice-cold water was drifting his sleepiness away and that was when he noticed a woman drowning. He was confused for a moment before he swam towards her and pulled her out of the water.

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Go Ha Jin was surprised when someone pulled her out of the water. She could not even remember when the strong current had subsided.

"Where am I?" she asked, coughing up water.

The man with what looked like a historical Korean clothing did not answer. He looked totally out of place. His hair was long and messy just like his shabby clothes. The left side of his face was covered with hair and underneath the hair was a black mask. But what made Go Ha Jin anxious was neither his clothes nor his mask but his color and his breathing. He looked pale and was heaving, as if he had run a mile. He looked more exhausted than Go Ha Jin who nearly died.

"Is there something wrong with you?"

"Are you being hunted?" he asked back looking at her with wariness.

"No," Go Ha Jin quickly said. "I tried to save a man who fell off that lake but I only ended up drowning," she looked back at the lake with heaviness in her heart. "Did you see another person drowning?"

"No..." he got to his feet and swayed a little as he walked away.

"Hey..."

"Don't follow me," he said with coldness in his voice which Go Ha Jin only ignored.