Breathing techniques are used to gather, store, and channel Qi. Meditation practices are taught for gathering and storing Qi. Each clan has its own breathing techniques, meditation practices, and martial arts forms.

  “You lot have put off answering my question for over two weeks.” Min said, exasperated. “If you don’t tell me what you bet with Hwan I’m going to make each of you spar with me twice a day until one of you tells me.”

  It was an effective threat. Min could out fight all three of them, and every time they sparred with him he put them through the wringer.

  “Alright, alright.” HaJoon said. Putting his hands up in surrender. “We’ll tell you.”

  HaJoon gestured to DoYun who sighed.

  “We bet that he’d find you attractive.” DoYun replied.

  “I want full details, DoYun, not a summary.” Min said.

  “We were drinking after closing with Hwan one night and Ha-Joon here was going on about a pretty patron at Hwan’s that night that was just his type. She’d flirted with Hwan and gotten rejected. Hwan let slip that his preferences lay elsewhere and HaJoon took it for the opportunity it so clearly was.” DoYun told him. “HaJoon said that we had a friend that he was sure Hwan would at least have difficulty turning down. He bet his favourite knife on it. Hwan took the bet and said dinner and drinks were on the house should he lose the night we brought said friend to his restaurant.”

  The fact that Hwan had admitted he’d lost in front of Min instead of being more indirect about it, was a subtle way of letting Min know about it. It also showed that he trusted Min’s friends. It showed that Hwan believed that had Min been someone who was unnerved by same-sex attraction Min’s friends would have either never have made the bet, or found a way to keep Min in the dark. Min thought on this for a moment before deciding to alter his plans.

  “If you three can finish the tasks I’ve already assigned you in time, dinner is on me.” Min said at last. All three of them grinned. HaJoon and Ye-Jun hurried out the door, DoYun bent over the parchment on his desk. Min let a small smile past his usual mask and focused on the document in front of him, suddenly just as eager as his friends for the evening to come.

  Min put an extra robe over top of his scribe’s outfit. HaJoon and DoYun had left already and would be waiting for him and Ye-Jun at the main market. Too many people in the palace complex knew what Min looked like, if he wandered around in a scribe’s robes he’d be sure to be followed. He’d be followed anyways, but he’d have an easier time shaking off the tail if he could change his clothing part way.

  They exited through a side gate that was usually used for deliveries. Ye-Jun showed the guards his pass and they waved both of them through. The two of them hurried through the streets. They made a few turns as they weaved their way to the guard post. They entered through a little used door into what was once a place for the guards to take a break between shifts, but was now mostly used as a storage room.

  Min unlocked a chest in the corner. He pulled out a few articles of clothing and he and Ye-Jun changed. They put on some veiled wooden hats before going further into the guard post and exiting out a side door. They then continued through the city until they had exited the nobles district.

  They changed twice more, once in the sector the rich merchants lived in, and for the final time in an average neighbourhood. Min now wore a plain scribe’s outfit, with a lighter coloured veiled hat than what he’d worn earlier. They exited through the main doors this time, using the crowd to camouflage themselves. A few streets later and Min was pretty sure they’d finally lost the tail that had been on them since they’d left the palace. There had been four of them, and it had taken a long time to shake all of them.

  Now that they weren’t being followed anymore, the two of them went to the meet up location where HaJoon and DoYun should be waiting for them. Min spotted both not long after entering the market district. HaJoon had his arms folded in front of him as he leaned against a shop wall, looking like he was just watching the crowd, but Min knew he was scanning for potential threats. DoYun was chatting with a stall merchant. It was a tad odd, but as they got closer Min recognized the man as being from the Western kingdom. From the products on display he was from the Cheong clan, Min’s mother’s clan.

  “Took you long enough.” HaJoon said as they approached. He left the wall he was leaning against and approached them.

  “Our tail was a bit more skilled than expected.” YeJun told him..

  “You’re losing your touch brother.” HaJoon joked.

  “Next time you can go with Min then.” his twin replied.

  DoYun had finished his conversation with the merchant and joined them. They began walking down the street as they chatted.

  “He does attract attention doesn’t he.” HaJoon said, looking squarely at Min.

  “Not my fault I was born with superior looks.” Min said grinning. “You’re just jealous of the looks I get every time we go anywhere.”

  “Just the ones from the women.” DoYun said, smirking. “He wouldn’t know how to deal with the ones you get from men.”

  “Not sure he’d know how to deal with the ones from the women either.” YeJun teased.

  “I get plenty of attention from women when Min isn’t around!” HaJoon looked mildly offended.

  “Not like what Min gets.” DoYun said, patting HaJoon’s shoulder consolingly.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Ya, you get a glance from them, and about half glance again.” YeJun said, placing his arm over his twin’s shoulders. “Everyone looks at Min at least twice, and I’ve lost count of the amount of times people walk into things because they can’t tear their gaze away.”

  “Don’t worry HaJoon, even with me around you still have a shot with most of them.” Min reassured his friend, grinning.

  “Why because you’re not interested?” HaJoon asked, his tone was sharp, but he was grinning as well.

  “You could say that.” Min replied.

  “He thinks such pursuits are a waste of time and effort.” YeJun said. “Which means the rest of us will have plenty of chances to console the heartbroken ladies.”

  “I didn’t say that, but I do agree with that second bit.” Min smiled at his friends.

  DoYun saw Min’s smile and clasped his hands over his heart, staggering theatrically. “Min, smiled!” he said.

  The other two made a show of looking to check if this was true before staggering back as if shocked.

  “No need for your poison daggers with that weapon in your arsenal.” HaJoon joked. Min just rolled his eyes at their theatrics.

  The three continued to tease him for some time. It seemed they’d missed what he’d implied in their supposed shock over him smiling. He didn’t mind that in the slightest, he was enjoying the jovial atmosphere that surrounded them. It didn’t take long before they had arrived at Hwan’s Dragon.

  As they made their way to the same table as last time, Min noticed a new server. The man was tall, though nowhere near as tall as Hwan, and had the same obvious muscles that HaJoon and YeJun did. The man was clean shaven, with dark brown hair, and brown eyes framed by dark long lashes and thick eyebrows. Min watched the new server as they sat waiting. Much to his surprise the new server was the one who approached their table.

  “Welcome to Hwan’s Dragon,” the man said cheerfully, his voice a rich tenor. “What can I get for you?”

  Now that he was closer Min noticed that the man’s arms had scars on them not too dissimilar to the ones that Hwan had. There were fewer than the ones Hwan had, and Hwan had quite a few that looked a lot older than the ones this man had, but they were definitely scars that you only got if you not only spent years practising with weapons. Some were ones you only got from actual battle, sparring accidents couldn’t account for all of them.

  “You’re a new face.” HaJoon said before ordering for all of them.

  “I’m just helping out temporarily.” the man replied as he wrote down their order. “If I’m a new face, I’m guessing you’re some of Hwan’s regulars then?”

  “Our friend here isn’t quite yet, but the rest of us are.” HaJoon replied, grinning.

  “Well, it was nice to meet you all. I’m Shin, and I’m handling this section today.” the man, Shin, said. “If you need anything just holler and let me know. Hwan should be able to get started on your order right away if I’ve timed things right.”

  Min couldn’t help but notice the familiarity with which Shin talked about Hwan. It really wasn’t any of his business as he’d had all of one conversation with Hwan, and hadn’t yet said a word to Shin. Min still filed this information in his mind, and gave himself a mental note to pay attention to how Shin and Hwan interacted tonight. All Hwan had admitted to Min’s friends was that he found Min attractive, his body language had signalled that as well. He hadn’t said anything about if he was seeing someone or not, so Min would watch to be sure he wasn’t intruding before making any kind of move on the frustratingly attractive restaurant owner.

  ***

  Tae turned to Jin who stood on a stool designed to make him closer to the same height as Tae, chopping vegetables on the counter almost directly behind where Tae stood at the stove.

  “Don’t try to rush the process.” Tae said. Jin had picked up the pace a tad too much and Tae would much rather the youngman not get injured.

  “Sorry.” Jin replied, slowing down again.

  “You don’t need to try to keep up with my speed.” Tae reassured. “I’ve been doing this for over a decade, the speed comes with time. Your current pace is perfect, and incredibly helpful in keeping up with the rush.”

  Jin paused in his chopping of vegetables to turn and smile at Tae. The youngman really was doing a fine job, and Tae didn’t want him stressing over the fact that Tae was a lot faster at every task in the kitchen. That’s how accidents happened.

  Shin had been banned from the kitchen during the hours the restaurant was open, so he was helping cover the floor, manning Jin’s section while Jin was back in the kitchen with Tae. Shin was a great help, and had been for the past several days, but he’d been checking in on Tae a bit too much. Shin was very social, and Tae preferred a quieter kitchen.

  “Group order.” Shin said as he entered the kitchen. He handed Tae the order info and grabbed various beverage containers, four water cups, four tea cups, and four smaller cups. Shin then refilled a kettle and put it on the slot at the back of the stove reserved for it, before hurrying out again. The kettle was whistling before Shin came back, and Tae was halfway through the order. Shin removed the kettle from the heat, then measured tea leaves from the container of highest quality of Jasmine tea. Once the hot water had cooled sufficiently to not scald the tea leaves, Shin filled the tea pot and hurried back out with it.

  Most customers didn’t order that particular tea due to the price. Seems there was someone with more money to spend tonight in Shin’s section. Even when they had wealthy customers they usually ordered more of the better alcohol instead of the higher quality tea. Tae shook his head, clearing it, and focused back on the task at hand.

  “Hwan,” Rin entered the kitchen, balancing a stack of dishes. “Let us know if you want any of us to stay late today.”

  “Why would any of you need to stay late? If there’s extra cleaning, Shin and I can manage.” Hwan told her.

  “The group you often drink and play games with is here today, so I thought either Jin or myself could stay to speed up the closing shop cleaning.” Rin replied.

  “Those three don’t mind waiting a bit if extra clean up is needed.” Tae said.

  “That’s true.” Rin agreed. “Do you think their friend would stay too? I know they all left early the last time they brought him.”

  “Which friend?” Tae asked. He wasn’t sure if he should be hopeful or wary, or if neither was warranted.

  “The really handsome one. The one Bora lamented not being able to snag as a new customer when he didn’t come back.”

  Tae froze. “Ah.” Tae said after a moment, resuming the slicing of the eggplant on his cutting board, but much more slowly. “Which section are they in today?”

  “Same as last time, so Shin is taking care of them.” Rin answered. “He’s doing a great job, managed to upsell them on the tea. I think the pretty one was key to that, the other three don’t seem to care what kind of tea they drink.” She laughed.

  Tae didn’t know whether to be thrilled or panicked. He was pleased to know more about the man, frustrated he hadn’t asked for a name last time, and worried because Shin knew Tae a little too well. It would only take one interaction between himself and the man with amber eyes for Shin to put two and two together. Tae wasn’t sure he wanted his friend to know exactly who it was that he found so irresistibly attractive.

  Rin grabbed the next order that had the tablet indicating it was for her section and hurried from the kitchen. The curtain sweeping closed behind her. There was the sound of groaning wood and a snap. Tae looked down to see he’d cut through his cutting board badly enough that the damn thing had split in half. The hours between now and closing seemed to stretch out endlessly before him in his mind.