The Love They Never Had: The Nam Mansion

Chapter 45: Gojib (Persistence)

She had changed again, and it wasn't for the better this time. Her face was sunken in, as if she was barely getting any sleep, she had lost so much weight and she looked as miserable as I did, despite her words. Holding her was no different from holding a wounded bird in my hands and it was making me angry. But no matter how many times I tried to ask her, she would just ignore my questions and push me away to another woman as usual. I was close to finding out the rest of her secrets, but I was giving her one last chance to come clean herself and she had better recognise my mood at this point. A lot of things happened the last time we met that got in the way of our...reunion, but I was still unaware of how we got to that point when I had no idea when she regained her memories in my father's home and what she did after that. And I needed to know; I needed to know everything about her before I took a really big decision in my life that would change everything. As 'my woman', Hui-Jee was completely useless and her so-called connection never worked in my favour at all. In fact, she had secretly used them to create the opposite effect, and I had become the butt of everyone's joke when it came to the palace. In fact, since housing Yeon with me, my life was worth nothing every time she left my side, both personally and professionally. I couldn't focus in the palace and I felt strangely empty without her. But looking back at what we had before Dal ruined everything, I at leas had something...someone that I could rely on, even if it was only a tiny piece of her since I could not open up to her about what I was going through at the time. Not that I really needed to anyways, Yeon could always see through me with a single look and she pretty much guessed everything away, apart from what I was putting her through with her brother...

"What's the matter?" She asked me softly, knowing full well what I was thinking about. But she always wanted me to talk and tell her on my own. But she needed to understand that worked both ways, because I could never read her the way that she read me. "I have had a long day and I wish to rest while you keep coming up with all of the excuses in the world to keep lying to my face. Your journals will be exposed soon and you can figure out what to say then when I shut this place down." "Are you really going to make everyone suffer just because of me?" "Do you not think that I am capable of doing so?" "You wouldn't go that far, not for me." "Let us see." I was in the middle of undressing myself when the whole brothel seemed to line up at her door and begging for her help with everything under the sun; they couldn't access the water outside, my men were stealing their dinner and taking over their rooms, some women needed medical attention and so on. "Seon-Ho please..." "You can beg all you like, you are not leaving this room until you give me something." "Are you really going to do this! They need me..." "I NEED YOU! I ALWAYS NEED YOU AND YOU ALWAYS PUT ME OFF FOR EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD!" "That is because you already had someone by your side! You chose her! You pursued her! Since you obtained her as you wished to, she is the one who is supposed to me helping you, not me! Not again!" "You will give me what I need whenever I need it!" I had to grab her to shake some sense into her because I was not going to fall for her pleas and begging, not anymore. I was dead serious when I mobilised men to block any and every entrance from this brothel which did not suit somebody of her standing at all.
And she knew it, she knew how serious I was this time and she knew that nothing else could say to me this time would make me fall for her words, especially when I tucked myself in her bed without uttering a single word.

She was trapped and she knew it, she had no way out apart from coming clean to me, especially if she wanted to save everyone like she always did. She did start crying a little and I did feel bad for her, but there was no way for me to help her unless I understood what exactly was going on and what she had been through to get to whee she was now. "What...what do you want to know?" "What happened in my father's home?" "Why do you want to know so badly?" "Because you deceived me." "Like you didn't deceive me first?" "You know that I had no choice to do that." "And I did? Why is it that you can get away with everything in the world and then when I do the same thing, I get vilified for it? I did everything for my brother..." "And I did everything for your both. I put my life on the line for you both several times, I went against my father for you and I did everything to protect you without getting anything in return." "In return? What on earth are you talking about?" "You know damned well what I am talking about." "Yeon? The children are all crying and we need help here. Please just tell the young master everything that he needs to know so we can parity everyone and open up for business tomorrow." "I am coming to you all as soon as I can! Please stay with the children for now until I find a way out of here! Seon-Ho please! Do not ruin my hard work because of this!" "You know what you have to do to help everyone. By helping me, for once."