Body & Soul 🇰🇷 Part 1

Chapter 67: Seon-Ho

The first time she saw me she almost dropped everything she was carrying in her hands; prior to that I couldn't help myself and had done my fair share of stalking and had put myself in her path as much as I could. It wasn't a complete success at first; she would just run away whenever I had made my intentions clear that my office would be staying close to the ranch. I could tel she didn't believe it at first but when she saw her embroidery on my sword and other pieces she had made for me that I retrieved from her room in her father's village, the look on her face was completely priceless and everything I had hoped for; shock, sadness, confusion...but I saw myself in her eyes again, even though I was at a fair distance from her. I wasn't a cold-blooded monster and she knew that...but when I got the reaction I wanted...I found myself...resenting her for not...idolising me like she used to. She would run over to me with a smile whenever she did but now she looked like a scared rabbit in front of me. I had no idea what possessed me but I started engaging in active conversation with the first girl who tried to flirt with me while keeping my eyes firmly on her. She looked crushed and tried to walk past me...until I caught her by her arm to make sure she felt my presence. She tried to wrestle herself away from me until everyone started focusing on her. She still looked sad and confused until someone kept calling out for her and I had no choice but to let her go. I pulled her back into my embrace as soon as I let go and I thanked her for the embroidery gifts she made for me...and that if she even thought of running away then she should forget it. I also made a sinister comment about how sweet she looked when she slept and how beautiful my jewellery looked on her before walking away to join my colleagues, leaving her shaking on the spot.

I could tell my presence was really affecting her; I made sure that she knew I was watching her as I would approach her randomly when she least expected it. A lot of women threw themselves at me and I made sure that Yeon witnessed everything whilst I made my favour to her known as I along with my colleges had started settling into the ranch as accommodation.

My next meeting with her was sombre to say the least. I was waiting for her in her room where she walked past me immediately but she asked her friends if they had served me anything which they hadn't. She got angry at this and immediately asked them to serve me tea and the for she had made earlier in the day without looking at me. But I could sense her nervousness, her sadness and her fears as soon as she set foot in her room. She walked away to get changed into her night clothes; it would be inappropriate for others to meet in this manner but we were more than acquainted with each other at this point that I didn't mind it as I devoured everything her friends put before me. They had already informed me of their work schedules so I knew when to come in to meet her. Sung-Rok was out investigation our new jobs and Chun-Ae wouldn't leave my side no matter what I did. I could had slapped myself for my stupidity as I saw the look the women gave to each other, I had almost forgotten their turbulent past. Yeon didn't serve her anything and Chun-Ae couldn't help but scoff at everything I was given to eat and drink, as if her food was any better! She was an average servant, but a cook she was not. But before I sat down she had already taken off my jacket and put my shoes to one side. She served me half the food she had prepared as she packed the rest away for her brother. She lit the poorly contrasted fireplace to keep me warm; despite her silence she took care of me and made sure I had everything I needed. She busied herself as she waited for me to finish eating before we tried to talk. But she was silent and trying to do everything to avoid my gaze. I know Hwi had also met up with her but she was avoiding him as well as part of her little rebellion against us both to get us out of the palace. She had started acting recklessly as well, trying to do everything she could to highlight her abilities that her whole family tried to hide for her whole life. She was even soon scouted for jobs, something that never happened to women at all in the 13th century. She didn't dare push our limits by vanishing from the village entirely but she was situated almost on the other side, alone, which was more than enough to set the both of us on edge. We we worried everyday about her condition, if she hd enough provisions even though we knew she knew how to take care of herself. Or we were worried that her epilepsy would flare up again...apart from work and the military she had always been in our sight since we met so...I wasn't ready for her sudden departure her independence. As days went by without any word from her; again another little act of rebellion we soon had another fear to face. What if...what if she went off on her own without a word of warning and never come back? That was enough for me to put aside my guilt as I set about to find her immediately after a long time.

I didn't know how hungry or cold I was until she tended to me. She saw my condition and immediately set about making me hangover soup. She looked at the condition of my clothes and she had her sewing kit ready. She even had her friends attend to our horses. I was so grateful to her that I could cry...it was really painful; knowing the debts I owed to the Seo siblings, and she had every right to avoid me like she did...but we both knew deep down she was doing it for me, rather than distance herself out of disgust to me betrayal. I could see everything I wanted to know in her eyes that laid on my scars in concern and in her delicate touch where she was treating me...so the more she avoided my gaze the angrier I was becoming. I had sent Chun-Ae out to help attend to the horses and when I had finished my soup she attended to my clothing. I tried everything I could do to get her to look at me but she wouldn't. It was only when I lost my temper and grabbed her roughly that she landed in my lap. I grabbed a hold off her hands with one of my arms whilst holding onto her waist with the other. She tried to wrestle from my grip but I just smirked, I had been away from her for too long and once again I found myself intoxicated by her scent and taste as I rested my head in her neck and my hands started wondering up her back under her clothes. "What are you doing? Get off...get off of me!" She wasn't putting up much of a fight much to my surprise and delight. She was melting at my touch although she tried to fight it. But I was getting impatient as I picked her up and pinned her to her wall "we have to talk and you know it" I was treating her like an asshole and I knew it but I had her in front of me right now after so long and I was going to take every advantage I could get. I tried to touch as much of her as I could whilst. "Do you usually talk to women like this? Even you're Ihwaru girls?" That stopped me in my tracks but I still pulled her into my chest and locked my arms around her "what if I am?" I only said it to piss her off but the look on her face put my in my place instead as she stomped on my foot and took my dagger from inside my robes and proceeded to make cuts in both of my arms as she replied bitterly without even looking at me "fine, go back to them then and do not waste my time and hospitality." I still held her in my arms...shocked and amused at her apparent jealousy. This was definitely not a side to her that I had witnessed before...and I wanted more of it. I was sure about my feelings for her but I had never even dreamed that anyone could be jealous over me. It made me greedy for her and her attention that I wanted to absorb for myself.

The more I stared at her the more she avoided my gaze, but I felt it; there was something between us that kept pulling us towards each other. She was upset and she had every reason to be, but I know I wasn't the problem, not really. If she didn't care about me then she would have no reason to feel insecure around me right? We hadn't been around each other for so long so I knew that she missed me just as much as I missed her. She was in front of me after a long time so I took her in my embrace again and this time she didn't even fight me off. She collapsed into my arms and out her little head in my neck and we were just silent for a while, taking each other in a much as we could...her touch was doing something to me, something I felt deep down inside that was desperate to come out of me. I looked down at my new scars she gave me and I asked her how jealous she was. Her reply was something I will never forget in this lifetime "I saw you first..." she whispered to me but I felt her clinging onto me; that one touch told me a lot of things that she wasn't ready to express to me yet. She was hurt and even afraid of what I thought of her I could tell.