Body & Soul 🇰🇷 Part 1

Chapter 151: Seo Yeon

I woke up to find my husband asleep next to two beautiful babies, his big hands placed on their little chests as if he was afraid they'd fall. I could only cry in happiness as I looked at the family I never thought I would have with the man I never thought would love me in return. They were starting to fuss and I didn't want them to wake him up. I finished feeding both children, quite painfully I might add just in time for Bong-Ju to make his way into my wing, tiptoeing carefully and quietly towards us.

I felt enraged by his condition; he looked like a scared lonely boy just like Seon-Ho did when we met him. His eyes widened at the sight of his new siblings and I think he didn't know how to act. I just laughed and opened my arms wide to him. It took him a while but he made his way to me and I scooped him up in my arms as if he was my own. I showed him how to hold and touch his new brother and sister. He then looked up to me with sad eyes "what if father loves them more than me?" He whispered in a wobbly tone. I embraced him, telling him that he would always be the firstborn in this house, that he was irreplaceable and it was his responsibility to help me to raise them. Soon enough he fell asleep in my lap just in time for Hwi and his now pregnant wife to come bursting in the room almost tripping up on Seon-Ho as they did. I motioned to them silently to see my children who had just fallen asleep. I could only laugh at my brother who couldn't stop crying, my sister-in-law who looked at my children in fascination, and the army friends he had brought who couldn't stop bouncing off the walls with just as much excitement as the rest of us. My brother took the babies downstairs while I tucked my stepson into bed with me and just stared at the face of the man who gave me all this happiness, wondering what on earth I did to deserve him at all.

We all woke up to Chun-Ae's drunken ramblings in the early hours of the morning, making all the children cry in fear, even her own son. It took us forever to quiet down all the babies and my stepson looked too afraid to step out of his room. Seon-Ho locked our door before she could make her way up to us and ruin everything. I couldn't move but I came up with a fun idea for father and son to bond as I made them make up a bed for Bong-Ju in my wing and sneak in his stuff so he felt safe with us. Everyone was in tears of laughter at the end and the two of them actually looked happier together. He still had intense and dark looks for me but thank god our children were turning him back into the man I fell for all those years ago. I was still enraged by Bong-Ju's condition and this bitch was beginning to piss me off in more ways than one since I was now a mother. I had never had one and it was always a sore point for me...and it wasn't possible without my private devil. I called for all of the maids that served under her and I had them al severely flogged much to my husband's amusement before I terminated their employment, even the ones who I had thought I was close to but they seemed to have sold themselves to her for whatever imaginary power she thought she held onto. She had been a servant for so long anyways, so it just seemed to be hypocritical of her to have any of her own as well. And she wasn't happy about it at all; but before she could cause a scene and wake up our babies like she had been doing, Soen-Ho had to literally place his hand over her mouth and drag her outside where he shut the door on her face before she could even say anything.

But it wasn't all on me. I had noticed that whenever interacted with his partner he would always turn to me to take out his frustrations onto me, even sexually; it was if if he wanted me away from the world. I hadn't told him that I had heard their conversations when I was in labor and couldn't help but wonder about the state of their marriage especially when he was so willing to put me first in front of everything and anyone. I had my brother fill me in on everything could about her; as Seon-Ho didn't tell me anything at all, most likely as part of my punishment.

This girl was really everything I feared; I had no idea Seon-Ho would stay as faithful as he did but apparently she kept stalking him in the gibing's and wouldn't stop throwing herself on him and even chased him into marriage when she couldn't take his rejection any longer. But we had to keep our relationship a secret so of course, she had no idea who I was until she found me the day after I turned his father in.

All the pieces were starting to fall together; I had come back a few times to meet Seon-Ho after I left but all I ever heard were the rumours circulating about the new loved-up couple of the palace, it was all lies! And no wonder Seon-Ho wouldn't return any of my letters, I was beginning to suspect if he even saw them at all. All those times I waited to see him in our secret places for hours and he wouldn't show up...I felt anger rise up in me like never before. I was not one to be harsh on my own sex but this girl was clearly something else...I continued what I started; to keep diaries of these events in case I needed to explain my future actions to my husband. I started ones in my children's names as well just in case...

Being a new mother was hard for the next couple of months but it was also one of my happiest times. My husband was far more hands-on than I had expected; he really didn't let me down at all. We were sleep-deprived, moody and these babies of ours practically ran our lives, but they changed everyone. My stepson really changed from a timid little boy to a big brother always playing with the children and watching them if we fell asleep...that is when he managed to leave his mother's sight. Chun-Ae really tried to keep him away from me but he loved his siblings too much to leave them alone. Seon-Ho kept us as far away from each other as he could so far but now that I had my children her behaviour had gotten a lot worse. My days at bed rest were almost up so I knew she was going to confront me sooner or later.

I could tell as soon as I set foot in this house that Seon-Ho was going to have us wives pitted against each other as part of his own personal revenge as soon as we were wed; although he never stopped putting me first I could tell by his interactions with her that he was trying to make me jealous at times, which I had to admit, it worked. I tried to keep calm and collected but I really hated it when he touched her, talked to her, or had to spend any time with her at all. And he knew it. It was all a part of his game; when I got jealous I got angry which gave him excuses to pull me to the side and do what he wanted to calm me down. And he wasn't the only one; I had even begun to resort to pulling him away from her much to his delight; I was becoming just as possessive over him as he was of me. He consumed me completely, I felt like I didn't know how to breathe without him next to me or touching me. Even the days I went to his office I couldn't leave him alone.

But not everyone was happy about those work visits. My husband's coworkers tried to make me uncomfortable as they could as they still had influence in the palace but as the king relied on my husband more and more there was only so much they could do. And Seon-Ho did everything he could to shut them up as well. But Chun-Ae was getting out of control. She even started coming into his work the same time he would take me so I would have no choice but to rush home to the children, not that I didn't leave them alone with her in the house but I was too paranoid otherwise and only left the children when I could get my brother or sister-in-law to help watch them. This made my husband angry but I had no choice and neither did he, playing his husband role in public. But he would always make it up to me when he was home.