Chapter 114: Dali Suli (Mending Bridges)

I had absolutely no idea how to react to what just happened between myself and Seon-Ho; all this time I had been so sure that he would hate me after everything I had done to him. But why did it feel like...he was trying to keep me chained to him. But I knew that my brother would start looking for me and I needed to strart getting ready to achieve a lifelong dream of mine that would come true in only a few hours. But Seon-Ho...would he even let me leave? Would he have his people follow me? If it was Sung-Rok then maybe I would have a chance; he had always despised me and I knew the last thing the wanted was his master to start paying more attention to myself rather than work. But if it was anyone else...just what on earth was this man thinking? He was angry at me and he had every right to be, but this was too much. Hui-Jee told me it was bad idea to stay around him after what I had done and everything that I had kept from him, but I didn't want to leave him on his own. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was missing my brother just as badly as I was...so maybe that was it? He was trying to keep me by his side to bring my brother back to him? Yes, that made sense, it was the only explanation that I could think of to justify his behaviour...

...but that was a lie. At first I thought he was just venting his passions onto me that he had for another woman, but even after everything that had transpired between us, I could still feel his hands touching me everywhere he could. And I just didn't understand why; my brother left for days on end, so he had all the time in the world to confess to Hui-Jee and woo her like he tried to do with me, so why wasn't he doing it? It even looked like he was trying to avoid her at all costs now, and now Hui-Jee herself now wore the same expression on her face that Seon-Ho himself used to wear in my first year as a hostage in the Nam Mansion...just what on earth was going on between them?

"Why are you crying?" I almost jumped up in the air when I heard his voice practically in my ear and his nose buried into my hair. "Goodness gracious! What are you, a ghost or something? Why don't you make any noise when you move?" "Soldier instincts" he replied with a small smile on his lips that was so rare for me to see that I couldn't help but to be taken by it for a few moments. "What happened? Why did you cry? Did I accidentally hurt you?" I could not fathom what this man wad doing to me; a few minutes ago he had fire in his eyes and now he was being more gentle with me than he ever had been in his entire life, even before I lost my memories. "I...I'm not crying..." I couldn't help but to pout like I used to whenever I tried to hide my feelings, which were all of the time. But I could tell by the look on his face that I was no longer the little sister who followed him everywhere and I was running out of options. He really want't going to let this issue go and I needed to go home otherwise I could get a never ending lecture from my brother who might take away my chance to finally be educated. Seon-Ho was such a sore topic to him now that no-one dared to bring up his name anymore, not even myself. If he knew that I was here alone with him this late at night then he couldn't talk to me for weeks on end.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be acting like my prison guard?" "I know that you haven't eaten for hours as per usual. Come and eat with me, I haven't had dinner either." I raised my eyebrows at him suspiciously but that didn't stop him from taking me by the hand and leading me to the dinner hall where he had a rather elaborate feast spread out for only two people. I was so taken aback that I was stunned into silence for a few moments and I couldn't even move until Seon-Ho personally dragged me onto the floor right next to him so there was barely any space left between us. "Why are you looking at me like that?" "Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?" "What do you mean?" "You are a pretty open-minded person, until you have an enemy. I have technically done everything I could t anger you, so why are you suddenly being so nice to me? Unless this is another one of your 'soldier techniques'. "And when have I ever mistreated you?" "For 3 years straight you mistreated me?" "Yeonnie...." "You ignored me as soon as I woke up, you dressed me in fancy clothes that could have fed me and my brother for a year straight, and you always lashed out at me whenever Hui-Jee..." just bringing up her name in front of Seon-Ho was already piercing my heart and bringing tears to my eyes. My pride would not allow me to talk about Hui-Jee with him and now more than ever I needed to get out of here, but he was still holding onto my wrist as if I would leave at any moment and honestly, I had never in my life seen this much new food in front of me. I didn't even realise how hungry I was until I took in the delicious scent that was honeys making my mouth water.

"Look how cute you are acting; it just occurred to me that I do not really know what you like to eat since we were never allowed to eat togther so I had the maids make up everything that they possible could." "Are you saying that you had this made for me? Specifically for today? This must have taken them hours..." I was rambling on in surprise for a while when I noticed how quiet he was getting. He wasn't even looking at m property and instead he had his face planted to the ground. "Seon-Ho? What's the matter? Hey, look at me..." "Yeon...I have been on my own for a while, now more so than ever. You have been avoiding me and your brother...well he must hate my guts now..." "he doesn't hate you, he misses you but his pride won't let him tell you that and you know it." "I miss you...both of you. I do not have anyone in my life apart from you both." His vulnerability right now shook me to my core; Seon-Ho was the most calculating, manipulative and intense man I had ever come across in my entire being and he rarely even spoke about his own mother to us, and yet here he was acting like a small shy boy in front of me who was practically screaming for love and comfort. This side of him never existed to us before I had lost my memories and the fact that he was only showing me instead of my brother was doing something to me...it made me feel special, despite the bond he had with my brother it felt like another private one was forming between us that I could not entirely describe. But it was in that moment where I realised that there was no longer any need for formalities between us; before I had lost my memories I used to frequently become a little forward with him every now and again in my excitement whenever I saw him, so I saw no reason to hold myself back any longer. I temporarily forgot about Hui-Jee as I practically threw myself around him to the point where I had knocked him onto the floor but neither of us cared. I had placed my head onto his chest so I would no longer witness just how broken and lonely he had been for the entire time that I had selfishly avoided him.