Chapter 61: Peuleim Job (The Frame Up)

"How did you know where the corpse came from? Dal? What did you do and why am I being blamed for something that I didn't do?" "Because I have had enough of you leading me on when you have the Young Master wrapped around your finger." "You seem to be confusing me with the kisaneg girl that you mentioned." "That is a funny joke." "Well I am not in a funny mood and I just want to be left on my own." "The days of you throwing a tantrum and just walking away are over, Seo Yeon." "Dal, what on earth is your problem with me! What did I ever do to you! Why can't you just leave me alone!" "Why should I leave you alone! So you can go back to him!" "To who!" "The Young Master! I saw you!" He really grabbed me by the arms like a madman and pushed me against a wall so hard that my head was hit against it and I could feel a little bit of good trickling down my neck. But what scared me the most was that I had seen the very same look in his eyes that he had now in both of the Nam's, especially in Seon-Ho when we recently..."...The day that I waited for you for hours and hours in the rain! I had a boat waiting for the both of us so I could take you out of here just like you always wanted! I was going to give you the answers that you have always looked for in the Young Master himself! I was going to give you the world and instead you were in his arms doing what whores do!"

He shouldn't have pushed me, not in that moment when I was already upset about the corpse and my brother. I had no idea how long he had started resenting me for and for what reason, but I really didn't have time for this at all. But when he called me a whore, I really could not help myself but to give him a clean slap around the face and tell him exactly what I thought of him. "You despicable, disgusting and lowlife parasite! You dare to talk down to the Master that you alway shadow! You wear his clothes, his accessories, you eat his food and you complain about him like a two faced whore yourself! How dare you! Who do you think you are! Even if he has 100 faults, 100 flaws and 100 sins, you still cannot fill his shoes! So just leave us alone and if you really despise his this much then just leave! Become your own man and stop relying on his handouts! You say that you are here to help him but al you have done is just cause trouble between us! So if you are so useless at your job, then I will do it for you without giving you a single thought!"

I was angry, I was hurt and I needed to lash out at someone other than the Young Master in order to cleanse myself and gather my thoughts and ideas. And just because I was going through a rough time, it didn't mean that I was blind to al of Dal's instigations in the young master's life. I had noticed that something was off with him after the incident in the river and I was already getting tired of him lording himself around the manor like a Young Nam-Jeon. I had always believed that servant's had the same rights as anyone else, but there were just some arrogant ones like Dal and the concubine who deserved to stay in the same place forever and just rot to the ground. "You...you what? What are you saying..." his eyes were almost popping out of his head and he was saying to tremble like a little boy. It was more than obvious to me that no-one had ever put him in his place before since he started shadowing the Young Master whereas poor Seon-Ho was the one getting constantly berated for just breathing.

"Stop! Wait! Where are you going!" "I need to be by his side in case his father hurts him again!" "What! Why! You will still keep running back to him after everything that he...!" "What! What is it that he's done to me! How can I hate him like you do if no-one tells me what exactly he has done to me!" "He..." before Dal had the chance to finish off what he was about to say, Seon-Ho came blazing in the courtyard in his work robes and his sword in his hand. I could tell that he was furious, but I had never seen his eyes blacken the way they did now, not even Nam-Jeon himself looked like that when he was at his worst.

"Seon-Ho? What are you..." I didn't have time to say anything before he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me aside forcefully. At first I didn't know what he was about to do, until he grabbed his so-called servant by the throat and pinned him against the brick wall so hard that he almost cracked his head open. But after everything that he had jus said to me, I wasn't going to stop him. "Young Master..." "I told you. I warned you to stay away from Yeon. No-one goes near her without my permission, no-one sees her without my permission and no-one talks to her without my knowing. Just because you couldn't get her to notice you after all of those pathetic attempts to seduce her has failed. So you stay away or I will not hesitate to sell you into the market myself!"

"You...after everything I have done for you...." "Done for me? What have you done for me? Make useless plans? Instigate this mess between myself and the concubine! Or exaggerate my weaknesses and flaws and put me in the position that I am in today!" "Are you serious! You cannot blame me for what you did to Hwi...." "If I didn't have you in one ear and my father in another, if you both just got off of my back and let me think for my damned self, then I would have never betrayed him! Ever!" "Brother? What on earth are you talking about?" "You sick bastard! What are you up to now? Are you going to put on a heroic act for her! When you have a woman waiting for you in the..." "I HAVE NO-ONE! Now you keep your mouth shut if you want to keep enjoying the privileges you have in this household. And by the way, if you really wanted to impress the girl, you would do a lot more than to buy a dingy little boat that isn't even big enough for the two of you that could have drowned her in minutes." "You don't own her! She isn't your possession! Sooner or later she won't be here at all and then what will you do!" "As long as she is under this roof, she belongs to me! Now back off and leave her be or I will end you myself."

What was he doing? I always thought that Dal had been his only and main support for years and he was really willing to just turn on him like this? So easily? And for who? Me? Who was I in his grand scheme of plans? No matter how much I despised the man, how could he just discard him..."what is the matter? What are you thinking about? Yeon?" "Brother, what were you talking about...." "That is none of your business Yeon. You don't get to know everything so don't even think of prying into this topic, ok?" Sometimes he could be the sweetest man on earth and other times he would push people away and wonder why everyone avoided him. And no matter how much pain he was in, he was not the only person in my world that I needed to help. So I prised myself away from his grasp to check on the concubine on his behalf, only for him to pull me back towards him just as angry as I pushed him away first.

"Where do you think you're going?" "Someone needs to show some common sense on your behalf, such as visiting your combine in her time of need." "Is she really more important to you right now?" 'The woman is potentially having a miscarriage right now, why are you being so heartless..." "So what? Innocent babies and mothers die everyday, what does caring about it make any difference? The child isn't mine anyways and I have never touched a woman in my life, so I am not responsible for anyone." "You heartless, cold-blooded..." "That is right, I am heartless because no-one has given me their heart. I am cold-blooded became I have no warmth. Unless you want to change that." "Excuse me? What on earth are you talking about?" "Have you forgotten that day already? What happened when we were alone last time?" "I...that was....you..." "Let me guess, I forced you right? Isn't that what all women say so they don't feel ashamed of their own desires..." "Will you keep your voice down! For goodness sake, are you really so determined to chase the grim reaper today!" "Yes, I am." "Seon-Ho, what is wrong with you? What has happened? Please talk to me, you are scaring me now." "I cannot talk to you or anyone, trust me." "Then what do you want from me? Please tell me, and I will do anything that you ask of me..." "Don't do that Yeon." "What?" "Stop saying such ridiculous things, stop looking at me with those big doe eyes on yours and just stop being so..." "So what? What on earth is going on with you and Dal? Why are you acting as if I am your enemy today! Right after that man..."

"I SAID DROP IT!" Now I was the one being grabbed, dragged and almost shoved into a wall if he didn't place his hand in the same spot where my head would have almost split open. But he still wasn't letting me go, no matter how much I tried to wrestle myself away from him. "You're really scaring me..." "Would you have done it?" "Done what?" "Would you have left me with Dal on the boat?" "What boat? I haven't seen a boat! I haven't been alone with him since..." "Since the day that he told you that stupid lie about there being some girl waiting for me? It isn't true Yeon, I swear that it isn't." "What you do in your private life is of no concern to me at all as you just as I iterated today. And what I do isn't any business of yours since you want to keep secrets from me. Now let me go!"

"And what is your private life? Dal? Or my father's servant? Or someone else in the market? And who is it? A lowborn? A nobleman? How can you even think to look at another man when you have..." "Have what? What do I have? Who do I have? I am on my own as well, just like you!" Those words seem to shake some sense back into him a little bit as he finally released me from his grasp. And for the first time in a while he looked as pale as I had been feeling ever since I could barely remember my brother. It was like he was completely unaware that women also had deep-rooted feelings of loneliness and lack of support. But it gave me a chance to run away back to my quarters in that moment, and I needed to desperate collect myself for a few minutes before once again navigating myself around this household before I found my chance to find my brother. But instead, I ended up almost running straight into an angry looking Nam-Jeon, who caught me by the arm in the exact same place that his son had just held onto me with his finger nails prints that had ben dug into my skin. "My Lord?" "You...are responsible for almost costing me my grandchild's life." "What? No, I am not. I wasn't anywhere near her when she..." "Shut up you disabled bitch! How dare you talk back to your master like this!" "Father! Father...I mean, My Lord, please spare her! You promised me!" In return for his sincere begging, Seon-Ho got taken aside by his servants and knocked out by his training master with a single lash of his whip. As painful and as shocking as that moment was, I couldn't help but to notice how weak and frail his body was. He looked like he hadn't been fed properly since I was put on punishment. I was completely banned from cooking, so even I was suffering from a lack of meals, but I had never seen someone so tall and big collapse so easily. There had to be something wrong with him, something that he wasn't telling me. "Tie her hands and bring her to the concubine's quarters."