.fifty.
Minji spent the entire day after searching for her husband and Han and Soon Deok's house in the living room of her house. She could hear the servants as they came and went, checking on her every so often and offering her something to eat or some tea. But she declined every single time. She was too worried about her husband to even think about eating. The entire day went by and she rested her elbows on the coffee table, propping her head up on her hands. She was already beginning to drift off to sleep when she heard the front door open and footsteps that sounded all too familiar to her.
She knew it wasn't the servants because they had long since excused themselves for the night. And she immediately knew it was him because she had learned to tell by the pattern of his steps when her husband was approaching.
She pushed herself up to sitting and turned her head towards the door excitedly. She could not see him, but she knew he was there. Eun took one silent look at her and walked right past, heading in the direction of the guest bedroom. He still wasn't prepared to talk to her and he needed some time alone, meanwhile she probably wanted to go back to acting like everything was normal between them. Minji felt her heart drop into her stomach as she heard his hurried footsteps get fainter as he walked away without even acknowledging her.
"Eun..." Her voice called sadly.
But he said nothing, only continued walking until he entered the guest room and shut the door. He had spent the entire day after his altercation with Jung at the lake, contemplating his relationship with Park Hak Soon. He didn't understand what he was doing wrong. Sometimes he felt like she did indeed love him, but then she'd come at him with statements like that. That she was still in love with Jung and that she only loved him as a friend.
Minji wanted to go to his bedroom and beg for him to talk to her. But she also thought she should give him some space, and that was what she did. She would give him the space he needed until he felt ready to come and talk to her.
His indifference towards her lasted close to two months before his resolve finally faltered. In all that time the two teenagers lived in the same house without speaking to each other, and with Eun avoiding Minji all day. He was at an advantage, since he could see and he just turned around and walked the other way when he saw her coming. There were many times where he wanted to talk to her, when he wanted to kiss her, but he told himself that it was pointless to carry on a relationship where only one person was giving everything. Only one person was in love.
It had been a usual morning for them now. Half of the servants would go to the master bedroom to help Minji with her morning routine, while the other half of the servants would head to the guest bedroom to help Eun. The two would then go to the dining room in the house to have breakfast in silence. At times, Minji would gather some bravery and try to talk to him, after which he would simply get up and leave the room. Most of the time though, she stayed silent as well, so as not to spoil his meal.
Just as she thought, the servants had spread the news all over the kingdom that she and Eun no longer slept in the same bed. Soon Deok had arrived to talk to her and ask if everything was okay, and that was when she told her what she heard from the servants who went in to help with the chores every morning. Even Eun's mother had come and talked to her, asking her what had happened between them and why her son seemed so sad when he visited her. Minji explained that they were going through a rough patch, without giving too many details, as she felt it was something for her and her husband to solve on their own.
As she left her room to head for the dining room, Eun was a few steps behind her, having left his own room as was the usual. He saw her stop in her tracks in front of him and he almost walked around her, huffing with annoyance. But then he witnessed as she swayed to the side, a hand moving up to her forehead, and her knees gave out beneath her. She fell to a heap on the floor with a light thud, eyes closed, and having lost consciousness.
