I Will Find You - Chapter Two

Out of breath, Steve burst into Shin Jae-hyeok’s office, his heart racing a mile a minute.

Always the calm and collected type—Steve hated this about his friend—Jae-hyeok arched an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. “What happened to you?”

“The king is here,” Steve blurted out.

Abandoning his stoic expression, Jae-hyeok jumped to his feet and rushed to him. “Are you okay?”

Steve blinked. “Of course, I’m okay. Why?”

“You’re purple in the face, breathing like a racehorse, and...” Jae-hyeok grabbed his wrist. “Your heart rate is through the roof.” He pulled him toward the settee placed against the wall. “Come sit, and I’ll get you some water.”

Steve parked it, but rolled his eyes. “I don’t need water, I’m fine.”

Jae-hyeok fluffed a throw pillow and placed it behind his back. “Rest a bit.”

“Why are you fussing like a mother hen?”

Jae-hyeok looked at him as if he were a stray puppy acting out. “You should’ve gone to see a doctor instead of coming to me.”

“Huh?”

“You went hiking in Bukhansan National Park, right? It’s hot and very humid today. I bet you didn’t have enough water and forgot your cap, didn’t you?”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Mild dehydration and hypoglycemia—”

Did Jae-hyeok think he was delusional? Steve jumped to his feet. “There’s nothing wrong with me! I thought it was, since the guy just appeared, but he’s real, man.” He grabbed the front of Jae-hyeok’s shirt and shook slightly. “The king! Yi Heon in the flesh.”

Jae-hyeok cocked his head and stared at him in utter silence. After what felt like an eternity, he must’ve realized Steve would not collapse or descend into delirium, and his stoic expression returned, coupled with a cynical gleam in his eye.

“Yi Heon as the dethroned ruler of Joseon?” he asked slowly.

“Yup.”

“The guy who died in 1506.”

Steve rolled his eyes. Why was Jae-hyeok being so obtuse? He was from the Shin family, a direct descendant of Yi Heon’s bodyguard and commander of the Urimwi. Like Steve, he grew up with the legend. Like Steve, he’d sworn an oath, as did all those before him, to uphold his family’s honor by doing anything and everything to help and protect the king and his cook if they appeared.

Not that Steve had believed a word of the story—it was supposed to be a fairytale!—but he’d sworn, wanting to make his ailing grandfather happy. Because it was always an ‘if’, never a ‘when’.

Until now.

No matter what, an oath was an oath, and family honor was everything. His ancestor, Im Song-jae, had given his life in protection of the king; the least Steve could do was help the time-traveling monarch to acclimate, find the cook...And dump the guy on her.

“The guy who disappeared in 1506, never to be seen or heard of again,” Steve corrected and shoved Jae-hyeok as the man rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, it’s him. He looks like him, he’s dressed like him, and he even has his freaking sword!” A pause. “And he’s looking for the cook.”

“How very romantic of him,” Jae-hyeok replied drolly. “The supposed fortune left to him, amassed through centuries, has nothing to do with it, huh?”

That part of the legend has never been confirmed. Besides two cryptic notes—a riddle locked in the Im family vault and a blank scrap of paper in the Shin family vault that, according to the story, led to a fortune awaiting the king’s arrival—there was absolutely no proof that a fortune, or anything left for the king, existed. It was either made up, or someone had absconded with the supposed treasure somewhere during the last 500 years.

Steve rolled his eyes. “And how would he know there’s a supposed fortune waiting for him?”

Jae-hyeok didn’t have a response for that. Only the members of their two families knew about that particular element of the legend. “Fine,” he sighed. “Where is he?”

“In the park.”

Jae-hyeok blinked. “You left him there?”

Steve shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? Bring him down with me? We’d either end up on the socials or arrested. He looks like he’s been in a fight, not to mention the sword! I told him I’d come get him after dark.”

“Good. Leave him there.”

Steve shook his head. “I can’t. We can’t. Remember the oath.”

Jae-hyeok rolled his eyes. “Screw the oath. It’s not him.”

An hour later, Steve led Jae-hyeok through the same bushes he’d thrashed through earlier.

“You’re taking me on a merry chase, aren’t you?” Jae-hyeok grumbled. “You fell, hit your head, had a whole conversation with a dehydration-induced vision, and—holy shit!”

There, on the derelict steps of an even more derelict building, sat Yi Heon in all his bloodied, disheveled glory, and Steve grinned back at his friend. “You were saying?”

The king straightened. “Su-hyeok?”

“What the hell?” Jae-hyeok breathed.

Steve nodded. “I know, right? He called me Song-jae earlier. I guess I look like him. And you look like the commander.”

Jae-hyeok shook his head and blinked. “Impossible.”

Steve chuckled. “Don’t bother. I tried it earlier. He is really there. Or we’re both lying in a ditch somewhere hallucinating our asses off.”

The king, sheathed sword in hand, strode toward them, eyeing Jae-hyeok up and down. “You look like him, but he wouldn’t be caught dead making so much noise.” He tsked. “He must be rolling in his grave at your obvious lack of military training.”

Steve chortled. The Shin family has been in the armed forces for generations and took great pride in it. Jae-hyeok had gone into the armed forces at 18 and reached the rank of wonsa, the highest non-commissioned officer rank in the ROK Marine Corps, before leaving to establish his own security company. Having his accomplishments belittled must chafe.

It obviously did, because Jae-hyeok hissed, “You son of a bitch,” and, always the hothead, charged. And also immediately stopped as the tip of the king’s sword blocked his path. Unlike in the movies, there’s been no sound of the sword leaving the scabbard, just a flash as the blade caught the light.

“You might be the descendant of Commander Shin,” the king growled, “but insult my mother again and I’ll rip you apart.”

No wonder Grand Prince Jesan could spread the lie about the king’s murdering spree so easily. The look in the man’s eyes was absolutely chilling, showing he’d have no compunction in killing on a whim. And would’ve done so if the chief royal cook hadn’t stopped him that day.

“Jeonha,” Steve said placatingly, walking closer. “Jae-hyeok used it as a form of expression, he meant no insult to your mother.” He nudged Jae-hyeok.

“I’ve been in the military for more than a decade,” Jae-hyeok hissed, eyeing the sword warily, “so in fact, you insulted me first.”

“Hmm.” The king sheathed his sword. “You two were making so much noise, I thought a horde of drunken rebels was approaching.”

Jae-hyeok gritted his teeth, fists clenched as if he’d want nothing more than to punch the man before him, but the childhood ‘conditioning’ must’ve finally kicked in, because he didn’t. “He really is the real deal,” he muttered instead.

“Told ya,” Steve replied gleefully.

The king sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. “Well, now that we’ve established that I’m real for the second time today, tell me, is there anybody else I will have to convince, or can we finally get down to business?”

“What business?” Steve and Jae-hyeok asked in unison.

“Of finding my chief royal cook, Ji-young of the Yeon family.”

Easier said than done, Steve surmised. “How do you even know she’s here?”

“In this time,” Jae-hyeok added.

The king pulled a torn piece of paper out of his bangryeong. The same piece of paper he’d threatened Steve over earlier. “Because this brought me home.” He showed them the sketch of what looked like a bird’s nest. “This is the first dish she cooked for me. What I promised to cook for her if she stayed. Hwanseban.” A wistful smile. “Food that brings one home.”

It brought me home. To her.