Body & Soul 🇰🇷 Part 1

Chapter 168: Kang Da-In

I barely arrived home before sunrise, exhausted, hungry and in a blind daze. I had felt my body go numb a long time ago. But before I could even find my sister I had noticed a lot of changed in the home already. The servants had vanished, the home had been overturned, Hyo-Sonn's room was completely bare. Before could even call out to my sister but before I could take a step to her room I had Chun-Ae charge at me like a raging bull with...wait was she robbed or punished at work? Her already plain face was completely swollen with bruises "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN YOU STUPID SLUT?!" She slapped me to the ground before I could get a word in edgewise. "Do you even know what happened here? And we got punished in your absence! You disgusting whore! We agreed that you would all inform me on your every move so we do not get caught out like this!"

I was already full of rage towards her and if she thinks I was going to let her touch me again she had another think coming. But once again before I could fight back we had Seon-Ho's guards barge into the home and grab me before stuffing a cloth in my mouth and dragging myself and Chun-Ae out and threw us onto the floor...although they didn't touch my sister. The King's eunuchs were Cale upon instantly and they laid charges against me for running away from my master...and for embarrassing the Queen. It took a lot of convincing for Chun-Ae to become her person so I couldn't even be surprised at the fact that she was angry at me. We were taken to a small property near their houses where that bitch Yeon tortured us, beat us and basically starved us for a week straight before letting us go! But things were never simple with that bitch! I was had no choice but to sign away what little wealth I had left in exchange for a death sentence. And as if I thought things couldn't get any worse, we had to work as palace maids! Under Chun-Ae! I still had no idea where Hyo-Sonn was or why I being charged with 'her crime'...I thought I could bully her to do my work for me but I guess not.

When we had to walk back home; the house stank with old mouldy food no one had put away since Hyo-Sonn had disappeared into thin air. There was dust and flies everywhere and when I complained, Chun-Ae shot me a murderous look as if to say I should clean up the mess myself. We were not home for more than 5 minutes before Seon-Ho's guard barged into the home as if he owned the damned place and ordered all of us to meet him at the town square instantly! Both of us shrieked in outrage, there was no way I was going to let everyone in the village see me like this! But the guard told us that Yeon was expecting us to say something like that so she sent us a message 'what were you expecting when you wanted to be our family's concubines?" He said this with a smirk as we were both grabbed once again and dragged out on to the street. My sister however...she was already dressed in one of her best dresses all of a sudden with her most expensive accessories that she promised me she would kill me over if I ever touched it. I had my mouth open to protest but I stopped wailing as there was suddenly a crowd forming around us. We were in a prestigious neighbourhood so I didn't dare cause a fuss.

Everyone who came out started gasping...and pointing and laughing at us, but they were afraid to come anywhere near us, as if they would catch a disease if they did. I had never faced such humiliation in all of my life. Myself and Chun-Ae were reduced to tears as we made our way to a household I didn't recognise? Just what the hell was going on? Why were we here? And...hang on, what was Hyo-Sonn? In a weeding dress? Wait...was she marrying Seon-Ho? Really? I looked around as people began to whisper about the mysterious bride that no one recognised dressed in one of the most expensive wedding attires had seen. I looked around for my sister to fill me in on what was happening but I saw her being escorted by their family's maids. She was smiling so widely that I had a bad feeing about it. But I couldn't follow her; we were held onto so tightly by the guards I thought they would cut off my blood circulation. It looked as if the whole town was in attendance as I looked around to see the Seo siblings reunite. The brother...was giving me the usual hard stare he had been giving me for a while now. I had no idea what the hell his problem was so I tried to ignore him. I had noticed everyone was dressed rather casually, leading me to believe that this marriage was completely last minute...and probably not what I was expecting.

Soon enough the preparations were ready when Hyo-Sonn was called in front...and my sister? I was so confused at the fact that she was also dressed in a bridal dress? At that point I was having a meltdown as I started screaming and panicking...were they both going to marry my man? I looked over at Chun-Ae who seemed to have lost her mind as well. Was this a joke? Hyo-Sonn was in love with someone else and my sister was sleeping with her servant! They didn't even want him but they got to have him? Where was the justice in that? Everyone fell silent at our screams but we were desperate at this point. We were even screaming as the monk made his way at the entrance of the gate. I looked around at the crowd and my heart sank to my knees when I saw that he was missing...in fact we didn't even see him arrive with his family. And the fact that his wife was looking around for him almost sent me to my knees.

The bridal parties were soon called upon to take their places. I was about to scream when I saw a man dressed up in his groom attire walking awkwardly to take his position as if he was in a lot of pain. But this man was a lot shorter than Seon-Ho and not as built as he was. I couldn't identify what the problem was with him as he was entirely covered by his outfit. And then...another man in a bridal outfit made his way after him. He looked...almost similar to Seon-Ho but not quite...I was still squinting when the men who had their faces covered with the beads and the fan. But Seon-Ho was still not to be found as the food for the dinner later was already being laid aside a lot earlier than usual. I was stunned into silence and I wasn't the only one. The joint wedding went ahead without a word from either of us as the guests were all trying to take a peek at who the bride parties were. When everything was done they lingered around for less than an hour, just enough time to thank all the guests for coming before they were sent into their separate carriages. It was only then when the guards let us go in our state. We both teamed up to look around for Seon-Ho, who had soon appeared minutes after the the bridal parties had left. We were so dumbfounded when he was greeted by his children before he was approached by a man who looked vaguely similar. I edged forward until I finally recognised him, it was Hyun-Ki's father! So that was who Hyo-Sonn married! I breathed a massive sigh of relief before I started wondering who on earth my sister had married if it wasn't who we thought it was...until I realised that her servant had disappeared as well. I started comparing the similarities between himself and the groom until I sat down and pieced everything together. Hyo-Sonn had married my ex-fiancee and my sister had married her penniless servant? Or was Seon-Ho generous and gave him a small fortune? His attire was just as expensive as Hyun-Ki's. or...was he also under the impression that he was going to marry somebody else as well? I did notice that he was getting awfully attached to Yeon a few days ago...

I could only look onwards as Seon-Ho had taken Hyun- Ki's parents aside who looked anything but pleased. He motioned to his wife who left her children with her brother. I...I had never really had a chance to look at them before as I always considered them bastards. But I hd to be blind not to notice the look in his eyes when they ran up to him every single time. Maybe...maybe if I approached them, and I was nice to them...maybe I could finally make my move after all these years. If I proved to be a better mother than she was and he noticed it, maybe he would finally, finally notice me. If I made him appreciate me, he could raise my social status back to how it was, and I could live in a fully furnish home. If that was the price of my youth then so be it...and his children were the key to all of that.