Scar Of The Soul a BLK Taebin/Hyeon Su Fanfiction

Flourish Of Hate

     Just as Hyeon Su let his last knife fly, a whistle of air passed him quick as a breath, and a figure jumped down from the trees above. It was the bamboo hat customer who had been turned away at the tavern. He was the reason Hyeon Su had confronted Bon-hwa in the woods instead of where he'd wanted to take him down. As he stepped between him and Bon-hwa Hyeon Su's blade that had been meant for the beast, sunk into the stranger's back just as his sword ran the bear through in one swift movement. The bear gave one last deranged cry before falling backward onto the snow.

     The stranger turned from the fallen beast to Hyeon Su and took off his hat to reveal a face not much older than his own. The scars across his left eyebrow were the only thing that marred his almost femininely beautiful features. Hyeon Su remembered the way he'd lifted the tavern owner and wondered where all the strength from his small frame came from though they were almost the same height.

     The stranger pulled Hyeon Su's blade from his shoulder and wiped it with his cloak. "Here. I'm sure you'll need it again soon," he said, flipping over the blade, and handing it hilt first toward him. Hyeon Su took it.

     "How did you kill him? I've thrown six daggers at him already and nothing happened."

     "You can't kill a demon with blades like yours," the stranger said while cleaning the blood of his own sword now, "you need blessed metal to kill a higher demon."

     "So that's what Bon-hwa was. I can't say I'm surprised," Hyeon Su said. Remembering those crimson eyes made him shiver.

     "You would have killed a lesser demon with those knives, but one of his rank is harder to exorcise," he said placing his sword in its sheath. "Also, you might say 'thank you', seeing as I just saved your life. And if I may ask," he moved one step closer, "why were you tailing my target? Is the empire hiring two assassins per job these days?"

     "I would have done just fine without your intervention and I have far more claim on this particular target than you do. I didn't take him for money this time. I hated that man. He killed my family in cold blood."

     The stranger laughed at that, his pink lips shone in the moonlight and his dark brown eyes seemed to twinkle as he said, "A piece of advice, Honey. In this line of work let no one drag you down through the mud far enough to hate them. That hatred will turn on you, make you reckless, predictable, and stupid, then no one will be around to save you."

     "Wait," Hyeon Su said as he pulled his hat back up and began to walk away. "Who really sent you? Was it Master Chungho?" He wondered if maybe the new general of the empire really did care about his assassins or maybe he just thought of him as invaluable. he'd never missed a target before. "Did Chungho send you because he found out my target was a demon?"

    "Only scum work under the man who didn't care to inform you that almost every target you have killed so far was in fact a demon. I don't serve under the general, but Her Majesty and Honey," his smile made Hyeon Su want to punch him, "the monsters from your nightmares are real. They crawl this earth before your eyes. After all, don't humans act like beasts."

     "Wait," he called after him again, but he was gone, vanishing amidst the trees and snowflakes. He lifted his head and caught a few on his tongue. His body stiffened when he gazed behind himself at the fallen beast. He wasn't going to lose his place in the assassins' guild just because of one flowery man too quick with a sword. He pulled out his newly cleaned knife and turned toward the demon in the snow.

     The entire court gasped as Hyeon Su walked down the throne room holding the severed head of a bear. Blood spilled onto the lush carpet as he walked. The shocked looks from the counselmen and fainting ladies of the court were worth the trouble he'd be in for this stunt. Chungho's eyes were stern and unamused as he placed the head at his feet.