Chung-ha in Joseon

Chapter 8

When a man learns to love, he must bear the risk of hatred.

~~~

It was still lunchtime in the palace, minutes after the conflict irrupted. Min-ho and Ji-eun were in kings quarters. Out of nowhere, Min-ho started kissing Ji-eun's neck from behind while grabbing her waist. "He knows, doesn't he?" Ji-eun said blatantly.  Min-ho ignored her, now moving his lips to her ear. She turned, clearly annoyed. "Hey, can you not hear me?!" Ji-eun was known to be an aggressive type. It must be something the brothers like in their women. "Does he know?" she repeated.

"No."

"Don't lie to me!" She said, between her teeth. "You know you look adorable mad," He smiled at her. But he was right; her baby face was cute when her eyes widened.

"Look, That's Tae-min. He thinks he knows something, but he is never sure. He's not very a sure person like I am." He smirked. "I can promise you that he does not know you aren't able to bear kids. The only people that know are you, me, and your servants." She glanced away as he continued to kiss her neck and lift her hanbok skirt. "Is there any point?" she mumbled. Min-ho paused, "I haven't bled in 18 nights. My physician has been keeping track. I've also been a little sick." She said coyly. His eyes widened. Min-ho rushed to pick her up and twirl her around. She joked with him and said put her down and that he might hurt the baby. He gave her a thousand more kisses, slowly setting her down against the wall.

"We should still do it just in case and for me to relieve some stress," Min-ho said as he pulled her underwear down. He lifts one of her legs, allowing himself for easy insertion. She complied, letting him take complete control. Min-ho was always the dominant one.

~~~

"Who gave you a black eye?''

"I fell,"

"...You fell and hit your eye?" Tae-min said sarcastically. Chung-ha sighed. She sucked at lying, at least when caught off guard like this. Is Tae-min to judge her for lying...no? He has been lying to her this whole time.

"If you do not want to say that is fine, just know I have enough power to make sure that they'll be punished," Tae-min said, slowly walking closer. She scoffed. She thought it must not be enough power since her dad's been on the run all these years.

Other than that, she didn't reply nor turn around. "The reason I visited is that I wanted to be honest. If things were different, I promise I wouldn't have lied for so long." That sentence, however, caught her attention enough to turn around. He looked sincere; that was his reaction to her eye, the purple/grey tone around her left eye. A red color after that, meaning it's badly bruised.

"I'm part of the royal family. My father was the King till he got killed. However, I am not the runner-up anytime soon since I am the concubine's sun. My brother is the king."

Everything fell quiet...she just stared at him, her face was plain. Tae-min didn't know what to make of it. This was a face she never showed.

Then suddenly, a small laugh escaped her lips. Then a bigger one, another bigger one, and a big one after that. "Don't get me wrong, Tae-min, I'm thankful you're trying to make me feel better, truly. But saying stuff like that can get you killed."

Tae-min expected this response from her. It was understandable. "I'm not lying; I promise," Tae-min pleaded. He tried to reach for his tag to show her the carving of the dragon's head cut off. This will prove it. The King's wooden title has the dragon's head attached.

Tae-min was optimist still...until he felt nothing in his pocket, just the silk of his hanbok. When Chung-ha realized that, she erupted back into laughter. Tae-min thought it must've fallen out while he was running. He facepalmed, "My tag fell. I promise you must believe me." His face was washed by innocence, which made her stop laughing.