It should have been more embarrassing that the day after his (very public) tussle with Seojin-a in the palace's hall, his betrothed had requested they take some space from each other. This, coming from the girl who had been glued to his side the very moment their families had arranged their marriage. He couldn't blame her. Going from occasional brushes to holding hands, cheek kisses, and public touches all within 24 hours after his falling out with Seojin-a had been pretty fast. He'd believed she found it acceptable, since she hadn't said otherwise. So when he kissed her on the mouth (no need to review the circumstances for that particular choice) and then had her robes set on fire, she'd apparently decided it was 'too much, too soon,' and they could just wait to get to know each other after the wedding.

Ahn-Bo had cheerfully relayed the news to Seojin-a (who had also been rather cheery about it.) They'd spent the last few months the way they wanted—just the two of them. And if he'd spent those months purposely flirting with Seojin-a just to see his signature blushes... well, that was his prerogative.

Herbs and plants weren't something he was particularly interested in. But when this assignment was given and he'd heard they'd be sent in pairs up the mountain for the day to scavenge for Yomogi—it had suddenly become his favorite thing. He had their shared tsuno-bukuro tossed over one shoulder, happy to play the part of the 'I'll hold the stuff while you find it' part—with mixed results. Seojin-a didn't find it fair that he had to do all of the work. (Ahn-Bo didn't tell him that he preferred to follow his friend around just so he could admire the view without his notice.) So here he was, bent over and peering at plants in an attempt to locate this mysterious herb.

He lifted his head at Seojin-a's warning, brow furrowed, "What's devil's snare?" (He didn't find flora particularly interesting, remember?) Based on the description he'd been given, he glanced toward his right foot. It looked vaguely familiar, like they'd learned about it recently. There'd been a sketch of sorts that Sensei had shown them, hadn't there? "Oh! You're right, it's here," He grinned, rather pleased with himself, and used his right foot to gesture to the plant in question.