Laundry 101: Guide for Beginners

How to Wash Clothes by Hand

1) Read the care label for washing directions and follow it to the T. For example, the label says "dry-clean only," do not wash the garment with water.
2) Choose a mild detergent.
3) Use lukewarm water.
4) Soak the laundry in soapy water for a few minutes. Use a washboard to scrub out stubborn dirt and stains.
5) Rinse and repeat until all the soap is removed.
6) Add fabric softener to minimize wrinkles.

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Hwal hadn't even had a wink of sleep at all. He couldn't think straight. He wanted to talk to her as soon as possible to clear up the air between them. Last night he waited outside her door after he finished the call with Detective Kwon. He was expecting she would come out to get some fresh air which she usually does whenever she has trouble sleeping. Where they'd end up having late night talks about anything and everything, until she'd be sleepy again. But she did not come out last night, no matter how long he waited.

He knew she saw more flashbacks after he dressed her wound. He was concerned how much more cruel he must've been in her old memories for her to react like that. He somehow wished she had just stabbed him again if she thought he deserved it. But at the same time told him exactly what she saw so he would not be left wondering. Just like how she told him why she stabbed him in the bathroom, the moment her first flashback came. He would have preferred that, rather than her avoiding him altogether.

"What did she see? Why won't she tell me, when she didn't have any problems speaking her mind in front of me before. She used to be that fool with no memory who tells me everything. Why won't she say anything now?"

But at the same time, he thought, who was he to expect her to be honest? When he himself deflected the topic when she asked him about what Ok Eul-tae had revealed to him about their past.

He couldn't find the right words to tell her what she wanted to know. That it was him who made a deal with Ok Eul-tae for him to be turned into Bulgasal a thousand years ago. That request was what led to the murder of his own family. That request was also what led the then Bulgasal Min Sang-un to be manipulated into turning him into one in that mountain. There were no right words for such atrocity. She would end up hating him if she knew about what he had done. He was too ashamed that he had accused her as the cause of all his suffering, but as it turned out, just like how he wrongfully accused her of murdering his family, he was once again mistaken. It was him all along, who dragged her into the tragedy of his own making.

"Was that why she wouldn't even let me near her since last night? Could she have seen me and Ok Eul-tae making that disgusting deal? Given she was this terrified, it must have been true."

"What about that part where Ok Eul-tae said that I have always been in a one-sided love with her since one thousand years ago. Was that the reason why I wanted to become Bulgasal? Did I do that because I wanted to be with her?"

His thoughts ran havoc on his mind. He kept touching the scar on his shoulder, but no flashback came. But what really devastated him, much more than he expected, was where she kept her distance when he took a step towards her. It reminded him of how the villagers shunned him out when he was a child. The same way his late wife shunned him out and even tried to kill him because of his curse.

Just the other night, she said she liked him, but it hurt him that her feelings seemed to have changed overnight. Just like how his fellow soldiers sing praises every time he kills a monster. But not a moment later, goes back to hating him because he was not born a noble, and so, didn't deserve to be their commander.

He thought she might as well have ripped his heart into pieces. Ironic that they had some tender moments just before that, that eased him of his burdens. Of them finally talking about why they gave each other wounds, putting all their resentments behind them. That even though they tried to kill each other in the past, it was no longer important. Because in this life they now have each other's back.