Body & Soul 🇰🇷 Part 1

Chapter 44: Seon-Ho

Hui-Jee threw a glass of water on my face to wake me up as angry as I had ever seen her. She explained what happened last night, and when she did I got so angry I couldn't hold it in. But I was too drunk and had forgotten the swarm of women that always came for me the minute I sat down...and Da-In; the ex-maid who kept stalking me since the first time I came here after Yeon left. I barely remembered anything; apart from seeing her for barely a second, and she ran away from me.

I tried to not hurt my friend's girlfriend so I tried to find the bitch that may have cost me the one person who loved and cared for me like no other. I found her in the back, doing her laundry with the rest of the Kisengs. Hui-Jee dismissed them all apart from Da-In. She looked over the moon that I had come to find her since the first time I had met her but the minute she walked up to me, god knows my body reacted without thinking. Before I knew I had my hands wrapped around her neck and I pinned her against the wall. She looked up at me in shock but I didn't care. I demanded that she explained herself but the minute she tried to insult Yeon I nearly killed her with my bare hands until Hui-Jee tried to save her. I forbade her from finding me and coming anywhere near me again, and even Hui-Jee couldn't contain her anger for Yeon's sake and she fired her on the spot. She tried to run after me but I got out of there to watch the Seo's interact together for a few days before putting my plan into motion; she had moved herself into a rundown unmarried woman's shelter in the absolutely worst part of town filed with beggars and prostitutes alike...I had made myself at home when she was at work a few times...the mere thought of leaving her in that dump that was only fit for criminals made my blood boil. It absolutely broke my heart to see her there but either as a woman with epilepsy or a woman with intelligence, as she had no choice but to expose it for her loved ones, she would always be an outcast. But this run down place was definitely an insult to her. So I began to make negotiations with the madame who ran it behind her back as I had her things protected for now.

I started going back to work regularly just for the sake of doing something to occupy my time and keep my father from killing me outright; of course, he found a way to blame me for everything. But I still couldn't get Yeon out of my head. Frankly, the more I thought about it the more her intelligence was beginning to attract me to her. And before I knew it...any spare moment I had from my new job or other errands I spent just watching her. Her mannerisms, her speech...I had never seen this version of her before. In fact I didn't think she could be this...beautiful, honestly. Don't get me wrong, of course there were times when I really had to hold myself back in respect to her brother Hwi but it was getting awfully hard. And not just for me; there wasn't a day that went by that violent fights between women broke out over the smallest things...and Yeon was involved with most of them. Yet again I was exposed to another side I had never seen to her. She was still the same sweet girl I had grown up with however, she really didn't let anyone mess with her either. Time and time again I saw her break up fights or be involved in some after she was framed for nonsensical things. There was definitely some jealousy amongst them as Yeon had put herself there whilst Bang-Won tightened his leash on Hwi, giving him no choice but to leave her there temporarily. So I had someone go in undercover to befriend her and watch over her for me especially. And she surprised me once again, everyone loved and cared for Yeon despite all of our differences...but it never really struck me how lonely she was as well, just like me. I saw her tears as well; she was not a weak young girl that cried a lot...but she shed a lot of private silent frustrated tears, and I knew she was having a hard time adjusting to everything now that she had exposed her true self that she herself wasn't used to. And the memories we shared in the military camp and her father's village haunted me every waking minute; it was a life I craved so desperately with her and I was not willing to let it go.

I still hadn't started my new job yet and I wasn't supposed to until the new year, although with everything I had been through this year I left myself underprepared for the first time, although I had been dreaming about this job ever since my father took me in so I can get away from him. It was a lot more than I had expected but I realised soon after I had gotten myself settled into work...I really needed someone to help me with everything else as well. For the first time in my life I actually began to wonder what it would be like to have...a wife...to be welcomed home with open loving arms, hot home-cooked food on the table, a companion at home that didn't use or abuse me like my father did...we were never in the same room together for anything other than him giving me lectures. I wanted someone at home...someone who actually, really wanted me, who needed me, who looked at me as a safe haven rather than a monster that no one wants around them.

I was given a mansion of my own that I decided to refurbish greater than my father's place just to rub it in his face before facing his death penalty. It looked like the home of an army general, I naturally had Yeon's wing made up first all in her taste so it was all ready waiting for her....I planned to have her by my side by then. I wrote a letter of instruction to her brother, always letting him know of my plans before hand before I married his sister....and the other political marriage I had laid out in front of me that I'm sure Yeon knew about...well I was trying my best to handle that with the King but there was very little time to discuss it due to the nation's current situation with civil war on the rise for the throne. She worked, slept, ate and not much else, she didn't feel comfortable socialising due to her brother's situation with me. It was a little sad to hear; and I promised to give her the life she wanted, whatever she chose...as long as she spent it with me. I let them go under the condition that they worked for me to spy on her and report back to me on even the smallest of things, promising to reward them well.