BIUM Chapter 5
by Nikiniks
“I should have called a physician, but I didn’t get the chance. I hastily treated the wound with the medical skills I picked up along the sideline.”
“And?”
“Huh? Well, it must have displeased you that a woman dared to use such improper treatment (medical skills). Please rest today and show your wound to a physician at dawn.”
“If you saved me, I should be grateful. What does it matter whether you’re a woman or a man?”
The casually thrown words kept brushing against the thoughts Yiwon had buried deep in her heart.
The lectures she always heard from Geonmyeong and Myung—about how a woman should behave and carry herself—never once came from this man’s mouth.
“Don’t go out of your way to upset your father and get yourself in trouble. Go on.”
“I used to stay by my mother’s grave often, so it’s fine. I already said I’d stay here for a while, so don’t worry. The deep wound needs fresh herbs applied every two shichen (four hours).”
His calm voice was pleasant to listen to, but the real problem was still the wound. Whether it was due to the fever rising as sharply as the pain from the injury, his mind grew increasingly hazy.
When Hwan let out a rough breath, tension flickered in her eyes.
“I won’t die.”
“Huh?”
“I said I’m not dying, so stop looking at me like that. As if you’re just waiting for me to drop dead.”
Though his words carried a joking tone, Yiwon didn’t take it as a joke at all.
Even if he could speak like that now, until the moment she brought him here, her heart had been pounding in fear that this man—who had lost consciousness—might stop breathing entirely.
Frustrated, without realizing it, Yiwon pinched his arm.
“Ow!”
“You shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly. Honestly, I don’t know what you do, but you really almost died.”
“But I lived, thanks to someone skilled.”
“…”
“You treat wounds better than those half-baked physicians. Don’t hide such a good talent.”
He was a man who never backed down from a single word. Not to mention, his tone was rough and his actions reckless.
But being around him, she didn’t feel any of the uncomfortable awkwardness she usually did with others.
*”They say a woman learning medicine or martial arts is disgraceful. Everyone thinks so—doesn’t it bother you, Gongja (respected sir)?”*
Shifting uncomfortably, Hwan exhaled a long-held breath. He didn’t even have the strength to get up and move. Though he wasn’t fond of talking to people, he didn’t mind this woman much.
“I’d be less bothered by you than by a bloodied man collapsing among assassins.”
“Huh?”
“Normally, in such situations, you shouldn’t recklessly step forward—you should run. That’s the kind of situation you should avoid.”
“…”
“Eun Geonmyeong nagged at me not to do reckless things, yet he didn’t teach his own daughter something so important.”
At his grumbling, Yiwon’s eyes widened, and she bit her lip. A small laugh escaped despite her hand covering her mouth.
“What kind of nonsense are you saying?”
“A woman isn’t some ornament—if she wants to do something, she should. Learning the sword is disgraceful? Studying medicine is disgraceful? If they’re going to discriminate so much, they shouldn’t have been born from women in the first place.”
“…”
“If you can’t escape the stupid barks of others, just ignore them.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Hwan burst into rough coughs.
Before she could even process his words, Yiwon rushed closer. She soaked the lukewarm cloth on his burning forehead with cool water, then wiped away the blood he coughed up with a damp towel.
If Geonmyeong found out she was with a man at this hour, he would be furious. For a moment, fear gripped her—but at the same time, the man’s words stirred something in Yiwon’s heart.
“Rest a little more.”
When he lifted his heavy eyelids to look at her, she gave him a faint smile.
Empress Hong and Myung wouldn’t act just because he was gone for a few shichen. For now, treating his wounds came first.
Having somewhat compromised with himself, Hwan closed his eyes. His body was exhausted, but sleep wouldn’t come.
Lying still, his mind kept returning to ‘her pipa’.
Even though he knew there was no way to hear it now, it relentlessly clawed at his thoughts.
“Damn pipa.”
The hand wiping sweat from Hwan’s face paused. When he opened his eyes, he found her staring at him, brows furrowed.
“Damn… pipa?”
He opened his mouth to say something but closed his eyes again. Unlike Myung, whose thoughts were transparently simple, this woman was unpredictable.
“In that case, you should say, ‘I’d like to hear the pipa.’“
“…”
“If you obediently receive treatment, I’ll play for you next time.”
“Myung would hate that terribly.”
At his words, she let out a small laugh. He couldn’t hear the pipa, but Yiwon’s laughter was quite pleasant to listen to. He wanted to talk more, but in this state, it was impossible.
Feeling the woman’s touch on his forehead, Hwan’s consciousness slipped away once more.
🌙
She must have dozed off while tending to him. The moment she opened her eyes, the empty space beside her made Yiwon’s own widen in shock.
“Ah!”
The man who should have been lying there was nowhere to be seen.
All that remained was a bloodstained spot and soiled bandages. Frantically, she pressed a hand to the vacant space—it was cold.
“Where in the world could he have gone in that condition…?”
She had meant to tell him that no one would come looking here, so he could stay a few more days. But before she could even say it, he had vanished.
“I didn’t even get to ask his name…”
Though they had exchanged quite a few words, neither had shared their names.
‘It would have been nice to at least know that much.’
She had wanted to talk a little more once he woke, but this man—what could have been so urgent that he disappeared without a trace in that state?
“He could’ve at least said something before leaving… Hm?”
As she stared at the empty space, Yiwon spotted a folded letter on the table. All she had to do was open it, yet her hands trembled uncharacteristically.
For a long while, she simply stared at it.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, she unfolded the letter—and, true to his nature, a single short line was written:
【— I’ll repay the debt in full someday.】
“I never actually asked to be repaid…”*
A smile tugged at Yiwon’s lips as she read it.
Around Myung, she was always tense and on edge, but with this man, laughter kept bubbling up unbidden.
To him, she wasn’t just a woman who had to mind her posture and behavior—she was simply a person.
That fact didn’t change her immediate reality, but for once, it made her feel like she could breathe a little easier in a world that usually suffocated her.
“You mustn’t get hurt like this again.”
Whispering words he would never hear, Yiwon carefully folded the letter and tucked it into her inner pocket.
🌙
Three months had passed since then.
The days had all been the same.
Aside from occasional visits to the Yeomin Pavilion due to Yiho’s illness, she never left the inner quarters. She adorned herself to please Myung and learned the proper conduct befitting a future Crown Princess.
Though her days were uneventful, she had begun—without realizing it—to glance at the trees in the courtyard.
“Surely, he wouldn’t come all the way here?”
She had met him by the tree beside the Yeomin Pavilion’s wall. But if he knew she was from the Eun family, would he dare come this deep into the inner quarters?
“It would be difficult.”
Even to Yiwon’s untrained eyes, his skills were exceptional—but this was the heart of the Eun estate.
“It’s impossible.”
“He shouldn’t have left those words if he wasn’t going to return.”
She couldn’t even remember where she had put the formal letter Myung had sent, yet she couldn’t bring herself to discard the brief note ‘he’ had left.
Still, if she left it out, Nanhee might find it, so she tucked it between the pages of a book she often read.
It wasn’t even a proper letter, but she kept unfolding it without realizing.
“Sigh.”
All she could do was sigh. To clear her mind, Yiwon stepped outside with her pipa. As if soothing her emotions, she plucked the strings slowly.
Though she had been told to play well for Myung’s sake, she genuinely enjoyed it. The sound of the strings steadied her hollow heart.
“Ah!”
“I enjoyed the performance.”
The moment her fingers left the strings, her eyes widened at the sight of him. She didn’t know how long he had been watching, but there he was, perched on a tree just like when they first met at the Yeomin Pavilion.
Seeing him in much better condition than the last time they met, an inexplicable anger surged inside her.
“How could you just disappear without a word? Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”
“You saved me so I wouldn’t die. No need to worry beyond that.”
His carefree tone made her brow furrow. Unfazed by her expression, Hwan hopped down from the tree.
Even when Myung stood right before her, her heart remained steady—yet now, it raced erratically as this man closed the distance between them.
Before she could decide what to say, he reached out, holding a neatly folded handkerchief and a hairpin adorned with pale pink tassels and pristine white jade.
“I came to repay my debt.”
“…”
“I picked it out carefully. Won’t you accept it?”
Though he said it lightly, he ‘had*’ put thought into it. He had never given a woman a gift before, nor had he ever cared to.
But after seeing what Lady Jung favored, he chose something he thought would suit her. He expected at least ‘some’ reaction—but she only stared at it silently.
“If you wanted to repay me, you should’ve asked what I wanted.”
“Huh?”
“And I already have plenty of things like this!”
It was a stubbornness she would never have shown under normal circumstances. Maybe it was just her mood, but accepting this felt like an ending—something she wasn’t ready for.
“Then what do you want?”
If it were Myung, he would have scolded her for being greedy. But this woman simply waited, giving her the space to speak her mind.
The truth was, she hadn’t helped him expecting anything in return.
As she hesitated, her gaze landed on the sword at his waist.
“A sword!”
“Hm?”
“Could you teach me how to use one?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. No matter what he had said back then, she had no idea what he was thinking now.
‘Asking a man I’ve only met three times to teach me swordsmanship? Anyone else would’ve been furious—thinking I was mocking their skill.’
“I-I’m sorry. That was—”
“Is there someone you want to kill?”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“The sword I know is for that. Teaching you wouldn’t be hard, but it wouldn’t do you any good.”
“Ah…”
It wasn’t the answer she expected. Even sneaking lessons beyond the walls had its limits. She hadn’t truly believed he would agree, but facing the reality still deflated her.
“Hmm.”
“Never mind. It was just a passing thought. Forget I mentioned it. As for the hairpin—”
“I changed my mind.”
“What?”
“Thinking about it, this is too expensive to give to just anyone.”
She narrowed her eyes, but Hwan calmly pocketed the hairpin again.
Getting further entangled with the woman destined to be Myung’s bride wasn’t wise for him either.
Yet her disappointed expression and reluctant gaze kept nagging at him.
“Basic self-defense should be fine.”
“Huh?”
He meant he’d only teach her the bare minimum—but the way her face lit up made it hard to look away.
He’d seen women smile before, even the maids in Myung’s palace. But hers was different. He wanted to see it again.
“Ah! I just—”
“Hm?”
“May I ask your name?”
At her question, Hwan hesitated, pressing his lips together. ‘Should I tell her? More importantly, why is she so unguarded around me?’
The doubts piled up, but he pushed them aside.
“Hwan.”
“I’m Eun Yiwon!”
She was nothing like the composed woman she was around Myung.