Blessing Curse (Curse of Blessing)
27. The Missing Smile

"Uahhhh.. Finally..!" gi Tae muttered with a breath so hard when he successfully completed his last round.

Despite being exhausted, he still finished it. Gi Tae did not want Chu Yi to change her mind and make him run around the cottage grounds 30 more times. Nah! even if it only happens in a dream.

"It's time to rest for a while, you can have lunch after that we return to training." Chu Yi said as she hurriedly got up from her seat and walked towards the cottage.

The sweaty Gi Tae immediately enlarged his steps and walked next to Chu Yi.

"Stay away. Man with sweat is disgusting!" cetus Chu Yi coldly.

"Well, it's unbelievable! though you are the one who made me like this.." pruned Gi Tae with a grumble "but by the way, Chu Yi... how can you continue to be here, from what I hear your kingdom is located so far away right? it could even be up to three weeks' journey to get to the east.. Is something going on?" without thinking twice.

This made Chu Yi stall from her steps and stare blankly ahead.

Gi Tae is always curious. If previously he had kept all his questions in his head, but as time went on and his meeting with the nine princesses made him more open and more courageous. This is a good progress from the princess side.

Seeing Chu Yi suddenly stop made Gi Tae also stop in astonishment.

"Chu Yi... What's wrong?" gi Tae asked attentively.

Chu Yi was silent for a while, until she finally shook her head like she was throwing away a thought that had accidentally crossed her mind.

"It's okay.." prune her with a calm back "oiya, what happened to you and Mizhawa last night at the lake? why does Mizha look so weird?" Chu Yi shifted their conversation as she continued her footsteps.

Discussion of the sudden happenings in the lake like this made Gi Tae have trouble talking, he could not answer it.

"Uh. it's-anu. shmm, actually nothing happened" Gi Tae kept looking for excuses. Her red ears can be seen clearly.

Gi Tae actually did not want to lie, either to Chu Yi or the others. Just remembering Mizhawa's words, he didn't want to make a bad impression with what they had done.

If Gi Tae is telling the truth, then they will assume Mizhawa has broken something that Gi Tae himself does not know what it is. But if he lied then they would be suspicious of his attitude. This makes him confused.

But as everyone knows, only Mizhawa can read someone's mind, so he thinks this is still safe.

"I didn't do anything." added Gi Tae by trying to stay calm.

But it made Chu Yi even more suspicious.

"Did I ask you have done something?" back Chu Yi came to a halt and was now staring at Gi Tae with her eyes narrowing even more.

"I mean, nothing happened last night, it's just, well, as usual" Gi Tae replied with a stern "I made Mizhawa upset with me" he added by raising both shoulders.

"I thought so." said Chu Yi, who bought Gi Tae's lie and went into the cabin.

Arriving at the cottage the first thing they saw was Mizhawa's face.

Gi Tae certainly recalled last night at the lake. How not? even after the incident, he himself found it difficult to fall asleep because of Mizhawa's gaze and kiss. His face and ears turned red.

"Uhm. mem-they are having business" Mizhawa replied with a slight stammer but her calm face was so visible.

When compared to Gi Tae, Mizhawa is still better at dealing with the situation. Although surprised, he was still able to keep his emotions stable at a time like this.

Of course Gi Tae is just speechless and awkward with the situation.

--

As Gi Tae continued his training along with Chu Yi as an instructor, Sazhawa and Hyujin came from the front of the cottage courtyard. This made Gi Tae stop from training which was when he was pulling a large wooden rod using a rope that was hoisted on both shoulders. Gi Tae's sour face was again visible when his attention was focused on them.

Chu Yi who also saw their arrival also distracted her.

"You're back?" asked the calm Chu Yi with the two hands she hooked on the back of her body.

Sazhawa and Hyujin approached Chu Yi and Gi Tae. Sazhawa's face looks radiant, he is like enjoying the company of Hyujin.

"Yes... Ji-hyeon told me to come back, while Chaeyun and Dayeon are still in their jobs." Sazhawa replied with a sweet smile.

This time Gi Tae is not so fond of Sazha's smile, because he thinks that smile comes from his time with Hyujin.

"And you took her away with you? how careless, huh.." an irritated grin could not be restrained from Gi Tae's lips pointing at Hyujin with just his mouth.

"What's wrong with you? have you forgotten your own mistakes?" back, Sazhawa brought up the problem that had happened before. Now his smile disappeared after hearing Gi Tae's words.

"Sazhawa... uhmm. I don't mean to oppose you, but you shouldn't corner Master Gi Tae like that" Hyujin told Sazhawa.

Min Hyujin still considers Gi Tae as her master, because of the promise he has made. Gi Tae doesn't care what Hyujin says or does for him. He was still a stranger to her.

"Thank you for your defense, but really, I don't need it" Gi Tae added casually.

"Moon Gi Tae! you really...!!!" looks like Sazhawa's sunny day just got here. Now it changes with the anger that envelops it.

"Sazha.. you better get some rest" Chu Yi broke up the dispute that was about to happen "and for you Hyujin, can you take out some water because our supplies are running low." he added to resolve the precarious situation.

"Okay, Chu Yi!" sahut Hyujin slightly bowed to pay his respects before going to carry out Chu Yi's orders.

"I don't know you like this, Gi Tae. You're not the young man I found in Sun Gu anymore. Your emotions have eaten you." said Sazhawa, staring intently into Gi Tae's eyes and leaving. Gi Tae hates seeing this more, he wants to finish off the person who made Sazhawa lose her smile.

Chu Yi felt that Gi Tae's energy was in its volatile phase. If they make a little mistake and Gi Tae can not control his strength anymore, it could be that the first thing to rise is the energy of the black shadow. And it would jeopardize the survival of their plan.

In times like these, it was good for Chu Yi and the others to keep the energy generated from his training was pure, which came from something buried within Gi Tae, not the one his grandfather planted.