Hongryun Sect (11)
Hongryun Sect (11)
The next day.
Jayoung went to the back mountain to cut grass and discovered wildflowers blooming. The blossoms, just beginning to peek shyly from their buds, reminded him of the young lady. The white petals and the timid hint of red peeking out made him think they resembled her so very much.
So during his break, Jayoung quietly picked up his sickle and cut the flowers.
He wanted to gather a whole bunch and make a bouquet, but as a servant it was impossible for him to walk around with an armful of flowers, so he carefully selected only a few of the prettiest blossoms and tucked them into his pocket.
The sect trainee who had come out to supervise the servants was sprawled out fast asleep in the shade, and the other servants were busy eating the rice balls they'd packed for snacks or chattering away, paying no attention at all.
Jayoung quietly slipped back among them and joined the chatter.
"So, what were you all talking about?"
One of the servants, chewing on a blade of grass, said.
"Hey, Jayoung, you tell me. Isn't our Sect Leader strong enough to rank right below the Five Great Clans, even if he couldn't join the Nine Sects One Gang? I saw him fight the other day — whoa, those ring things were flying around, flashing, and people's heads were just popping off, I tell you! I don't know much about martial arts, but with that kind of power, don't you think he'd be right after the Five Great Clans?"
Another servant shook his head firmly and said.
"Come on, forget the Five Great Clans. There's a rich gentleman living near Zhongnan Mountain. Not long ago, I went there with our Sect Leader to discuss a business deal. You know what? He couldn't even lift a finger against the martial artists standing guard. I'm telling you, he's nowhere close to the Five Great Clans — not even below that."
"Isn't that gentleman just a terrifying master? They say he's rich too."
"How would I know? The name's so difficult there's no way an illiterate like me could remember it. Anyway, Jayoung, what do you think? Does our Sect Leader rank below the Five Great Clans or not?"
".....But still, our Sect Leader does have his own sect, so he's probably quite the capable man, don't you think?"
When men gather, they inevitably end up talking about who is stronger. Jayoung sat among the servants and spent the remaining time debating that very topic.
"That doesn't make any sense!"
At some point during the conversation, someone slapped Jayoung's thigh.
"No, I'm telling you it could be true! Our Sect Leader is also, what's it called, overflowing with ambition? That kind of thing!"
Jayoung got so caught up in the discussion that he kept slapping his own leg and fidgeting.
In the meantime, the flowers tucked in his pocket lost their shape and were ruined.
******
On the way back after cutting the grass, while the other servants all ran to the quarters and threw themselves onto their beds without a word, Jayoung pulled out the few blossoms he had stowed in his pocket.
"Oh dear...."
Even to his own eyes the ruined flowers didn't look very pretty, but Jayoung decided to show them to her anyway.
Everyone has their share of arrogance.
Jayoung was a young man who purely wanted to be with her.
But he also harbored the peculiar arrogance that she, being unable to walk, would be happy just seeing the shape of wildflowers,
and that she would like them simply because he gave them to her.
By the time the day's work was wrapping up, discipline grew lax and no one paid attention to a servant going off alone.
Jayoung managed to avoid notice and went to the building where Seon-go was staying, and stealthily called out to her in front of her door.
"Young lady. Young lady."
After he had called out a few times in a hurried tone, the door cautiously opened and a tired-looking Seon-go appeared from inside. She blinked as she confirmed it was Jayoung, and spoke in a listless voice.
"...What is it?"
"I, uh, this, I wanted to give this to you, young lady...."
As he spoke, Jayoung held out the blossoms. The flowers had been crushed, flattened by being sat on while he worked and all the bustling about. Their mangled shape, more like something you'd put on a plate as a side dish than a gift, flustered Seon-go a little.
A moment later, she realized they were flowers and nodded awkwardly.
"Ah, they're flowers."
"Yes. It's just... I thought of you while working. I, ah, I wanted you to see them, young lady...."
Jayoung said this while sneaking glances at Seon-go's expression. Seon-go looked back and forth between Jayoung's hand and the flowers with a subtle expression, not appearing particularly moved.
".....Please put them down here and go."
Perhaps normally she might have been touched by such a gesture, but right then her mood was far from pleasant after the intense first night she had experienced the previous day. Every time she moved, her waist ached, and a foreign sensation still lingered in her lower abdomen.
At that moment, Jayoung's visit felt rather burdensome to her.
She didn't want Jayoung to come closer, notice something was off, and call for someone or make a fuss. So she responded more indifferently and distantly than usual.
"Ah, yes...."
Jayoung nodded at her cool response and carefully set the blossoms down.
The flowers placed on the floor looked even more pitiful.
Having put the flowers down, Jayoung scratched his head and said cautiously,
"Ah, is the young lady perhaps... in a bad mood...?"
"...I'm fine."
Seon-go forced a smile and said so.
"But..."
"...I'm fine, Jayoung."
Jayoung tried to say more, but he sensed a certain boundary in her smiling face and backed off. This wasn't a line he sensed as a man. As a subordinate, he felt the instinctive sense that he must not go against his superior, and so he bowed obsequiously and retreated backward.
Ironically, that sight was what Seon-go wanted, yet it also brought her a strange sense of disappointment. The moment Jayoung, who had always been free and would do anything for her, showed his limits as a man, the pure image of Jayoung she had cultivated inside began to distort and crumble.
Jayoung turned around without another word and walked away, and Seon-go stared silently at the flowers he had left before letting out a sigh. They weren't beautiful, and there was no suitable place to display them.
That man would come again at night, and holding onto flowers like these would be hard to explain.
She reached out and carefully pushed the flowers away.
The moment the flowers fell to the floor, Seon-go heard something go thud.
******
Night came.
Covered by her blanket, Seon-go gazed at the sky. The man had never told her exactly when he would come, but he always arrived around the time the moon was bright and vanished before the rooster crowed at dawn.
That man who had named himself Docheol would come again tonight and crush her beneath him.
Under the name of husband and wife, he would take her mercilessly, over and over.
Seon-go intended to plead with him to hold back just for today.
Because her body wasn't well and that foreign feeling still lingered in her lower half. She thought if she could just rest well for a day she'd be fine, so she wished he would hold back tonight.
"I'm coming in."
As if speaking his name summoned him, the sound of knocking came. The silhouette beyond the moonlight shaped Docheol's form. Seon-go clutched the blanket tightly and said in a small voice,
"...Come in."
Then Seon-go cautiously lifted her head. The hands gripping the blanket turned white-knuckled, and the words 'please hold back tonight' lingered on her lips.
"Are you feeling all right?"
And what approached her was not rough hands.
Docheol did not pounce on her, nor did he strip off her clothes. As if he had no intention of bedding her tonight, he entered the room carrying various odds and ends.
As soon as he came in, he stepped a little away from Seon-go and then showed her the medicinal herb in his hand.
"This is a medicinal herb that's said to be good for pain. I hear it's effective when you grind it up fine and dissolve it in water."
His other hand held a mortar and pestle, and a peculiar smell emanated from his pocket.
He seemed to have prepared quite a lot for her.
"Since yesterday was tough, take the medicine and rest well today."
As he said this, Docheol began to crush the herb. A faint scent of grass spread, and just that fragrance made Seon-go feel at ease. Perhaps he hadn't prepared it in advance partly to let the scent fill the air.
But even as her body grew more comfortable, Seon-go couldn't understand his actions. It was hard to read what his intention was in looking after her.
Seon-go watched his expression and cautiously asked,
"...Why are you being so good to me?"
Then Docheol looked at her as if he couldn't understand Seon-go and said,
"Because we're husband and wife."
Docheol gave a single nod, then resumed making the medicine. He poured in a little water to bind it well, rolled it into a round pill shape, and then plopped the pill gently onto her hands, which were primly gathered together.
Seon-go felt a resonance in those words and actions.
The heart that had kept pushing him away was slowly developing cracks.
She began to question whether it was right to keep pushing away someone who treated her this well.
The medicine was a bit bitter going down, but just swallowing it somehow made her heart feel at ease.
Docheol said,
"If there's anywhere else that hurts, let me know."
And then he gently laid Seon-go down and even pulled the blanket up over her.
Seon-go stared at Docheol with wide, unblinking eyes.
Docheol said,
"Tonight, I'll watch over you until you fall asleep before I go."
Seon-go looked at Docheol's figure.
Docheol simply watched her in silence.
"Um..."
In that silence, Seon-go spoke first.
She pulled her hand out from under the blanket and made a waving motion.
"...If it's just holding hands."
Docheol barely managed to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching.