Chapter 108: Chuga Jeongbo (Further Information)

I still hadn't contacted my father and I had no interest in doing so, especially since he had made no request to meet with me either. I was still thinking about everything about him that Yeon had exposed about my father when I had any free time. Sometimes...I felt like keeping her in my home would suddenly change her back into the naive little girl who followed me around everywhere instead of the woman who grew up in front of my eyes and knew too damned much. And since when the hell was this...gutsy? And bold? When Hwi sometime complained this his sister could be a handful sometimes I had no idea what he was talking about at the time since she was pretty much a dutiful girl growing up. And now that I was getting a taste of what he was going through I was at a complete loss at what I could do to show this girl my sincerity after I was forced to lie to her everyday for 4 years, even I would have had a hard time believing myself. And her brother...there was really nothing I could do to pacify the siblings until my father was dead, so I had a little time to figure out what I was going to do about them. And I was still thinking about what I could do to keep her around for longer, but no sooner did I turn the corner to my home that I saw palace guards escorting my father and Yeon to the palace most likely. I ran as fast as I could and I reach out to for Yeon who wouldn't even look at me for some reason. We had to go the palace by foot for some reason and I didn't even look at my father even once, even though it was possible the last time I would see him ever again. I was long done with that bastard and I no longer had a reason to look back at the past. The guards told me that my father's sentencing had been moved up and that Hwi was returning as soon as possible to take his sister back. I was on complete panic mode at this point as I had to come up with every conceivable excuse I could find to keep her with me. I wasn't on good terms with her brother yet so what kind of excuse could I come up with to keep her to see her as much as I wanted to? Do I offer her a small job as my assistant? Do I keep her in charge of my home? Or do I start courting her right away? No...courtship was a time period for 2 people to get to know each other, and we already did for more than a decade. So...marriage? But how the hell was I going to pull that off in the state that I was in with her brother who was surely not going to let her out of his sight until now.

I had all sorts of thoughts going through my head, especially when Hwi met us at the palace at the same time and took Yeon's hand to drag her to the courtroom, leaving me on my own for a few moments...until her other hand caught my wrist and she started dragging me along after her. It was a tight grip and felt like I could breathe again. But before the officials could deliver their verdict, Yeon came out with more information of cases of corruption against my father based on 'all of her part time jobs' that had me shaking in anger. Was this woman really so bold? What the hell did she go through? Because I knew it was impossible for her not to attract any attention to herself? But that wasn't all...he exposed him for the murder of mine and Hui-Jee's mother in connection to the original letter that exposed his assassination plot against the current Emperor many years ago. And mother? The only parent I had that really loved me that my father brainwashed me against my entire life? She was tricked into becoming a concubine slave so my father could marry a woman with a much high status that he deluded himself that he was in love with when it was just her family's power he wanted. I remembered my dead brother's mother, and she wasn't kind to me either. In fact she was even worse than my father on occasions and she treated my mother like she was dirt under her shoes even though she was technically the first wife. But again, before the final verdict could be delivered by some men who still wanted to protect my father...the worst thing possible happened when my beautiful and fair Yeon spat out blood before collapsing to the floor as if she had one of her fits. She had been poisoned, that much was clear, but when she pointed at Nam-Jeon and accused him of trying to poison me in his last months before his trial. My own father and been poisoning me...and despite Yeon keeping her distance from me she knowingly switched our meals and saved my life...

...And now here I was back in my accommodation after I had completely lost track of her after the death of my father, who died a traitor's death. I hadn't seen her since that accident happened and I had been going out of my mind ever since. I knew she was with her brother and that gave me some peace of mind but I also figured he would keep her locked up for a while so he could have her to himself for some time and I had to respect that no matter how much I missed her already. A month had gone by like a year; I was drowning in my sorrows, my guilt and my loneliness as I walked around the now empty mansion which had been transferred into my name...and I couldn't get Yeon's voice out of my head, the memories she had created in these 4 walls and...and how much change she had brought to my life with her presence. Despite how hard I had tried to keep my distance from her so my father wouldn't harm her...she was just so vibrant and happy and smiling at me all the damned time. It wasn't my fault that I...that she...I downed another 3 cups of alcohol as I tried to banish that very same thought that had been haunting me for the past year...or 2...or maybe even three...but it wasn't working today, not after I had fully found out what she went through for me...just for me when I was thinking about someone else...I didn't even know she knew about that until after I left and I confronted Hui-Jee to ask if I could see her again the following day, only to be distracted by Yeon walking around the back to hang out a couple of very heavy baskets of laundry. I went to help her immediately to at least try and get into her good graces again.

I came up close enough behind her to give her a good scare, as it was the only way to break the tension between us. If I had to start acting like her brother's friend again so we could start afresh then so be it...even though I wasn't entirely happy with her to say the least. But things had indeed changed between us; she was no longer the naive girl that was easily frightened. The moment I got close enough to her, her hair distracted me as usual and I couldn't help but get close enough to the point where I completely forgot myself and I wrapped my arms around her.

She didn't scream or shout...it was like she sensed me coming, and for a couple of minutes she let me hold her whilst she carried on with her chores and we were finally alone after such a long time. And this time I had no pressure to keep my distance from her and her brother wasn't around so I could have her for myself...but as soon as she was done with her chores she took my hands off of me. "Can I help you with anything...brother?" I felt as if karma for how I was forced to repeat her came to bite me in the back as she took me aback with that word. Seriously? After everything we had done together in my father's home she was now going to call me brother? She had better not think of treating me like one now. "How...how are you? After..." "I'm fine thank you." She was trying to keep her distance from me and it was painfully obvious...and even though I knew that I deserved it, it was still getting me really angry. "Why are you avoiding me? And don't you dare call me your brother, not after..." "After what? A young and rich man forced his affections on a young woman that was living with him at the time that he was...starting to experience his...sexual needs?" She might as well have slapped me in the face...no matter how I felt about her, what I did to her and what she had done for me...I was forced to lie to her every single day for 4 years...so I guess it was time to face my punishment.

I swore to god if it was any other woman I would have walked away without a care in the world...but she was different for so many reasons that not only could I not walk away, it would create an ever bigger mess if I did. I felt...hurt...but when I heard the tone in her voice then I knew she had to be hurting really badly. Yeon...Yeon would never treat anyone like this even when she had every right to...I guess she was just testing me to see if what I felt for her was real or not from our time in my father's home. And I had already tried to carry on with my life without her, and I was just failing miserably. To be honest I was too afraid to face her ever since the risk she took on for me...I was scared that she would hate me for it, and it pained me a lot when I saw her like that...but now that she was in front of me...