Chapter 33.
Strangers.
Sa-do didn't see Ji-dwi again after the day he kissed her. She was in the medical room till now, with Ah-ro looking after her like she was still on the brink of death.
Her other roommates along with Dan-se and Su-jin visited her often whenever they had time. They too had noticed Ji-dwi's uncharacteristic absence and had asked her if something had happened and she had fervently denied it. Ji-dwi must have been busy. There was a lot of work in being a Hwarang. He must not have had any spare time to visit her, Sa-do kept telling herself. What other reason could there possibly be?
Eventually, she got discharged. It took a lot of convincing and persuading but Ah-ro had finally agreed on the condition that she take it easy for the time being. She would do that. Just as soon as she found Ji-dwi and made sure that he was alright because even if she never admitted it, she too found it strange that he never came to her.
...
"Hey."
Ji-dwi turned to her on hearing her voice before frowning and going back to his work. Sa-do frowned too. This wasn't exactly what she had expected from him.
Over the next few days, she tried many times to get Ji-dwi to talk to her, but he never gave more than one-word answers before making some ridiculous excuse and leaving. Sa-do was hurt by the sudden unexplained cold shoulder she received from him. She would have understood some awkwardness between them, but he was completely ignoring her existence, like she was invisible. It was like being back at home.
...
Sa-do was about to enter her room but the conversation inside halted her hand at the door.
"Why are you ignoring her?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Hiya! Do you think we are blind? You have barely spoken to her after coming back. Can't you see it's hurting her?"
"I have a lot of things to do. You can't expect me to waste my whole day on insignificant people like her."
Sa-do took that as her cue to enter, not wanting to hear any more.
Soo-ho released Ji-dwi from where he had him pinned against the wall. The other guys looked shocked by her sudden appearance too. She swallowed hard as she forced a smile before heading for her bed.
"What are you doing?" Seon-woo asked worriedly as he glanced between his friend and his sister.
"I am going to call it in early tonight."
Soo-ho left Ji-dwi's side. "Hiya! Are you slacking off on your reading?" he scolded jokingly but Sa-do didn't crack a smile.
"I am tired. I will make up for it tomorrow," she promised before quickly climbing up to avoid further conversation. Lying down facing the wall, with the blanket pulled over her head, she finally let the tears fall. Insignificant people? She was pointless to Ji-dwi? The thought hurt more than it ought to have.
...
Sa-do was back to her normal self soon enough though she took to avoiding Ji-dwi like the plague. She skipped meals when she saw him sitting with the others at their table. She tended to pick Soo-ho as her sparring partner which made sense as he too was shot and had his arm in a sling like her. She went late to all her classes and sat on the opposite side of wherever Ji-dwi sat.
She walked in the opposite direction if she ever saw him coming her way. She exchanged with Su-jin whatever chores she was partnered with Ji-dwi for. She stayed out in the stables or by the river in the evenings and only went to her room after dinner and went straight to bed.
On their off days, where she and Ji-dwi were the only ones who usually stayed back, she tended to spend the entire day in the library and only returned to the room late at night. Overall, Sa-do barely saw Ji-dwi anymore. It was hard but she didn't want to hinder him. He was the King. He had a lot of duties towards his kingdom after all. He wouldn't have had time for her after he took the throne anyway.
Sa-do was heading to the field to ride her horse. She would have practiced Goongmal but her left arm was still in the sling. As annoying as it was, she put up with it so that her shoulder would heal faster and she could get back to her normal life. She stopped short when she noticed Ji-dwi out there, practicing archery.
Well, maybe not 'practicing' with the way he was firing the arrows. Maybe 'venting anger' would be more appropriate. Ji-dwi was excellent at shooting and Sa-do watched him hit the target each time. His form was strong and his arrows flew smoothly. It was mesmerizing. Soo-ho, Dan-se and even she could probably match him on skill but they couldn't match him on style. Ji-dwi threw his sword at the target when he ran out of arrows and then sat down on the grass with a troubled growl.
Sa-do approached him, without consciously thinking about it. Ji-dwi jumped when he felt a hand rest against his shoulder. Noticing that it was Sa-do, he brushed her off as his eyes turned cold.
"You need to be more careful," she said softly, not meeting his eyes as she knelt down before him. She took his hand in hers and observed the cuts around his fingertips and knuckles with a pained look. Ji-dwi snatched his hand back from hers roughly making her give a forced smile. "Don't worry. I won't waste your time," she assured as she tore a strip of cloth from her sleeve and pulled his hand back towards her.
"I will just do this and leave," she promised as she wrapped the cloth around his knuckles. It was a bit difficult as one of her hands were stuck in the cast, but she managed it anyway and stood back up. "I will go now. Sorry if I caused you any trouble," she said giving him a small bow before leaving him alone in the field.
...
During their sparring class, Sa-do was unfortunately paired with Ji-dwi. Soo-ho exchanged a worried glance with her. He didn't know what had happened between them, but being the loyal friend that he was, he just helped Sa-do avoid the other Hwarang without asking any questions.
"Do you want me to go instead?" Seon-woo asked from beside her. Sa-do shook her head. While she loved and appreciated them for their efforts, she was not the type to back down from a fight.
Facing Ji-dwi in sparring was weird. Not just because it had been a while since the last time they fought, but because they were practically strangers now. When they started to fight, Sa-do knew that he was holding back on her because she knew better than any other Hwarang just how skilled Ji-dwi was with a sword. But with only one hand, her moves and power were severely limited.
After beating her for the third time Ji-dwi sighed, "can I change partners? Jae-won is of no use with that stupid sling. How long does it take for a cut to heal anyway?"
That did it. Sa-do had not felt so much anger since facing crowned Prince Chang in Baekje. How dare he belittle her when he was there when she got stabbed and when she fainted? How dare he question her talent, when he knew best that the only person in Seonmoon on the same skill set as him was her? "Let's try one last time," she seethed making Ji-dwi shoot her a highly skeptical look.
"Whatever."
Sa-do put her sword down and swiftly removed the sling before picking her weapon back up, ignoring the protests and warnings from her other roommates. With both hands tightly gripping the practice sword, she attacked him. The duel was fierce but she won, forcing Ji-dwi to lose his weapon and fall onto his back. As soon she gained victory she let out a gasp as she fell on her knees breathing heavily as the adrenaline rush wore off.
"Jae-won!" Yeo-wool stepped past Ji-dwi to kneel beside her, his eyes wide with horror. The urgency in his voice made her other roommates rush forward and even Ji-dwi sat up to see what was going on. "Your shoulder-"
Sa-do shot Yeo-wool a confused look before glancing down and gasping. Her robe was tinted a deep red, the stain spreading quickly across the white fabric of her uniform. "You reopened your wound." Sa-do ignored Seon-woo as she gripped her upper arm, finally becoming aware of the excruciating pain and a few tears slid down her face as she bit back a scream.
"We need to get you to Ah-ro. Come on," Yeo-wool ordered as he helped her up and guided her to the medical room, supporting most of her weight. Sa-do didn't protest and let him help. She hoped Ah-ro had something that would help relieve the pain. How could she have been so reckless? And for what? She shouldn't have given in to her anger against Ji-dwi. This had to be one of the dumbest decisions she has made. She needed to have a better grip on her emotions, especially in the middle of a fight.
...
Ban-ryu lunged at Ji-dwi, grabbing him by the collar. "What did you do to her?"
Ji-dwi looked unaffected and bored. "Me? She was the one who insisted on fighting. I don't see how that's my fault."
"All of this is your fault. You caused her all this pain," Ban-ryu roared, his anger rising dangerously.
Ji-dwi shoved his hands away. "Ironic that you should talk after you almost sacrificed her in South Buyeo."
Ban-ryu didn't even try to rein it in as his fists flew and punched Ji-dwi once, twice, thrice. "I never knew what was in that letter. I would have never given it had I known," Ban-ryu clarified as he pulled him by the front of his robes and glared at him. "But you are hurting her intentionally, you bastard."
"That's enough. Calm down," Seon-woo warned, placing a restricting hand on his shoulder but Ban-ryu shrugged him off, his eyes never leaving Ji-dwi's.
"Why are you stopping him? For the first time he is doing the right thing," Soo-ho commented when Seon-woo made a move to stop Ban-ryu again.
"Why are you suddenly so overprotective about her? You used to hate her."
Ban-ryu pushed Ji-dwi so hard that he stumbled before collapsing in a heap on the ground. "She is my sister," he replied unhesitatingly. And it was true. Park Young-shil had made them siblings the moment he adopted Ban-ryu as his stepson. Sure, Ban-ryu may have not known about her existence for years but now he had no intentions of shying away from his role as Sa-do's brother. Pointing a warning finger at Ji-dwi he demanded in a deadly low voice, "stay the hell away from her!"