[Guest Writer: Krb] Surprises All Around - A SKKS Fanfic

Title: Surprises All Around
Genre: General, Humor
Characters: Gu Yong Ha, the servants
Words: 1145

Summary: Life is always MORE interesting with surprises, as Yong Ha is about to affirm.

[This piece is a follow-up to AT THE CROSSROADS. Please read that first in order to enjoy this story better.]

o.o0o.o

The servants in the Gu Household had just experienced the shock of their lives.

Young Master Yeorim was up and freshly-dressed even before the crack of dawn. The last time any of them could remember him rising this early at home was when he was still an infant… and it was to cry for milk.

While the entire household (except predictably, Head Merchant Gu) remained in speculation about the reason for the Young Master’s peculiar change in sleeping hours, Yong Ha summoned two servants from the storehouse.

With a flick of his wrists, he motioned for the both of them to follow him.

“Come, there are some goods to be collected.”

Double shock. Since when did the Young Master personally collect his goods? Merchants and traders were usually so honored to be doing business with the Gu clan that inclusion of delivery was always a foregone conclusion. Even his highly treasured gold miniature of the forbidden kingdom had been delivered to him. What goods were these that warranted THE Gu Yong Ha to personally collect them, and at so early an hour, no less?

Yong Ha noticed none of the incredulous glances that were thrown his way as he stepped out of his villa. His mind was too preoccupied with the events that had occurred the previous night. More accurately, his mind was too preoccupied with whom the events had occurred with the previous night.

There was practically a slight dance in his steps as he skipped and twirled his way to the Yoon Residence. Around him, the birds were cooing, and the morning fog was just clearing. The streets were still empty and his two servants followed a few steps behind in silence. Twice, Yong Ha called out for them to hurry up.

Upon reaching their destination, the two servants were in for a third shock when Yong Ha approached the back gate quietly rather than trumpet his arrival at the main entrance. The younger of the two, Bong Dol, was about to alert another servant of their presence when Yong Ha stopped him…

“Yah! Bong Dol, why are you so impatient? Good things come to those who wait a little!”

…and patted him on the cheek.

To the utter bafflement of the two men, their Young Master then walked over to a large tree, looked up to ascertain that the shade was adequate, and sat himself down squarely on the grass! Ignoring the questioning eyes of his servants, Yong Ha leaned back on the tree trunk and began to take in his surroundings.

He had not been able to notice much the night before, due to both his distraction and the lack of light. But now with the sunshine, Yong Ha observed the state of Min Jin’s residence with much concern.

He could tell it had once been lovely and grand. But due to a lack of upkeep and adornment, the abode had become dull and run-down. The number of servants that were out and about was much less that what he had expected. Unlike the usual noble houses that were abuzz with activity, the Yoon residence seemed really… quiet. Other than the voices of a few maids chatting while at their chores, the only other sound he heard was of a dog barking in the distance.

About an hour of silent observation passed before Nak Ra and another maid appeared with the two bundles of embroidery, right at the arranged time and spot.

Nak Ra saw Yong Ha sitting under the tree and turned hysterical.

“Young Master Gu! Why are you here personally? Aigoo! You should have told me! Have you been waiting long?”

“Ah! Don’t worry. I just arrived.” He rose to his feet quickly and raised his two hands in front of her to calm her down, to the supreme amusement of his two servants.

Nak Ra promptly dumped her bundle onto the floor.

“I’ll call Agassi out in a moment!”

“Ah-ni!” Yong Ha stuck his hand out to stop her, but Nak ra dashed back in anyway.

This was going to be embarrassing. He didn’t even have a plausible excuse to be there!

Bong Dol bent down to pick up the hastily discarded bundle while the remaining maid passed hers to the other pair of outstretched hands. She peered curiously at the handsome Young Master, whose gaze was still in the direction where Nak Ra had disappeared.

“Excuse me, Young Master. You’re Gu Yong Ha, aren’t you?”

Yong Ha tore his eyes away from whatever he had been staring at and turned to face her.

“Heavens above! You ARE Gu Yong Ha! Why are you at our back gate? Aren’t you engaged to our Agassi?”

His eyes snapped together in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Head Merchant Gu dropped by a while ago. We were under the impression that the engagement had been confirmed. So I naturally thought that…”

The maid suddenly sucked her breath in at the realization of what she had just said. She started to panic, abandoning protocol by grabbing on to Yong Ha’s sleeve in desperation. Words spilled out of her mouth uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry! Please please please just treat it like I didn’t say a thing. It was just something that I overheard our Young Master discussing. We’ve been ordered to keep it from Agassi…”

Yong Ha couldn’t focus on a single word she said. His eyes narrowed and forehead creased as his father’s words from their last conversation were suddenly echoing in his memory.

…The daughter of Lord Yoon’s Household.

…She hasn’t even been informed…yet.

And the haziest memory —all but a faint sentence uttered when he had bolted out of his father’s study. As your wife, Lady Min Jin…

He did a double take on the state of the Yoon Residence, called to mind the faded edges of the Lady Min Jin’s garment the previous night, and things almost made sense.

Yong Ha was still in the midst of processing his thoughts when Lady Min Jin appeared at the gate, the pleasure of seeing him again so soon written clearly on her face.

“What a pleasant surprise…”

But the startling revelation had robbed him of his etiquette and he cut her off without any greeting whatsoever.

Pointing straight at her with his mouth agape, he blinked his eyes a few times before managing to find his words.

“You… You’re HER?”

Without waiting for any reply, Yong Ha let out a snort of disbelief at the incredulous irony of the situation and took off immediately. He was running home to his father. There were certain conversations that just couldn’t wait, and discussing this marriage was certainly one of them.

Eyebrows arched in astonished bewilderment, Lady Min Jin looked over questioningly to the maid, who with her face scrunched up, was rapidly hitting her lips in distress over what she had blurted out.

o.o0o.o

Author’s Note:

Yong Ha was always intentionally leaving people baffled for fun. I thought it’d be intriguing for him to continue baffling everyone, except this time it’d be unintentional and just as baffling to himself. It was a little fun to see Yong Ha (usually so sure of actions), at such a loss for once. Falling in love crazily does do that to us sometimes. =)

On a totally different note…

I need to apologize.

I’ll have to admit that this piece was a little tedious (to write, and I think as many of you might feel, to read as well.) As some of you might or might not know, I’d decided to make this love-story into something of a trilogy. I had a little problem though, halfway penning this 2^nd episode, all my inspiration suddenly channeled itself towards the third part instead.

But I couldn’t just toss this piece out to the trash either; the third installment would lack continuity otherwise. So doggedly, I continued.

I understand if some of you would find this piece fanfic not up to the standards of my previous 2 works in terms of content, pacing, and language. But please do bear with me a little longer. The third part will be out soon, I promise.