“We should have had this picnic much sooner,” Byeol chirped as she was laying out the blanket on the soft soil covered by tree shades, “Such a nice day today, isn’t it?”
“It indeed is,” Hyunjin agreed and pointed at his and Yeji’s mother, “It could very well be due to you ladies looking this stunning today.”
“Oh my,” Yoonji pressed her hand on her chest, “What on earth is happening to our headstrong Hyunjin, Byeol? My heart fluttered just now.”
“He’s just coming around and becoming a fine man,” Byeol pinched her son’s cheek, “Aren’t you, my prince?”
Both Gyeonggi and Jeolla Hwangs came together that Sunday to have a family outing in the woods, which was a crap excuse, of course. Byeol had been talking Yoonji’s ears off about how satisfied she was with the change in Hyunjin’s overall demeanor, and this gathering was supposed to serve as her ‘show and tell’.
“Why don’t you two go take a walk together?” Yoonji handed a big copper pitcher to Hyunjin, “Bring some fresh water from the creek while you’re at it.”
Hyunjin and Yeji left their folks behind and started walking westward in silence where the creek was supposed to be. Ever since this weird ordeal was forced upon them, things weren’t the same between the two. It was plain awkward, and it seemed to be getting worse.
“It’s quite hot today, isn’t it?” Yeji finally broke the deafening silence.
“Mhm. Shall we sit by the creek a little?”
After filling the pitcher with cold water, Hyunjin lay down on the ground and draped his eyes with his arm. Your silhouette appeared behind his eyelids as soon as his vision was painted with darkness. What were you doing? Was your day going well? Did you see a squirrel in the garden maybe? You would probably tell him again if you did. No matter how many times you saw it, you always gave the same reaction.
Look, Hyunjin, a squirrel!
Your giggle echoing in his mind felt like a soothing shadow over him, and he involuntarily smiled. Then he felt something on his lips as if something was pressed against them. God, he was in so much trouble, wasn’t he? He could literally feel you on him in broad daylight, and that phantom touch was enough to throw a match on his immensely flammable soul. He instinctively jerked forward to feel more, just to have Yeji’s scandalized gasp fill his ears.
“Where did you learn how to kiss like that?” she looked at him with eyes widened in shock.
It took a while for him to process it was Yeji right in front of him.
“Where did you learn?”
“I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me.”
“You started it.”
“Mine was tender affection for my fiancé. Yours is despicable lechery,” she collected the skirt of her dress and stormed off, leaving Hyunjin by the creek all by himself.
Lechery? Despicable?
Hyunjin sat there for quite some time, utterly confused about many things. Where did tender affection stop and lechery begin exactly? So it was okay if you pecked someone on the mouth, but the second you moved your lips it was considered depravity?
How do you hope to start a family without love?
He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and grabbed his notebook, looking at the pages filled with poems about you lately.
Oh, he was in trouble, wasn’t he? He was in neck-deep trouble.
When they returned home in the afternoon, Hyunjin barely dragged himself to the kitchen to get some water and found you pruning a little pot of basil at the table.
“Are you okay, my lord?” you looked at him all worried.
“I didn’t wear appropriate shoes for the woods today. My feet are killing me.”
“I know just the remedy for that,” you got up to head towards the closet that held cleaning supplies, “Please wait for me in your room. I will be with you shortly.”
You grabbed a large metal tub from the closet and filled it with cold water along with ample amounts of salt. Then you picked up some towels and oils from your dresser and headed to Hyunjin’s room.
This was your first time here.
When you entered, you heard the sound of running water coming from his lavatory. You placed the tub at the feet of the comfortable-looking armchair by his huge bookcase. While waiting for him to come out, you noticed there was a very familiar scent permeating this room. Powdery. As your eyes scanned the surroundings, you recognized an essence vial on top of a pile of books on his nightstand.
Hyunjin emerged from his lavatory with the most casual set of linen clothing you had ever seen on him, and his hair was tied in a ponytail. Remove the fact that you were in the Hwang Manor, and this could very well be your husband about to ask you What’s for dinner, darling?
“Sit please,” you gestured to the armchair in front of you.
He got comfortable in his seat and submerged his feet in the ice-cold water with a sharp inhale, but the soothing feeling quickly started to spread.
“Good god, what’s in this?”
“It’s just cold water and salt,” you explained, “Funny how the simplest things are the best solutions sometimes, isn’t it?”
After a while, you placed his left foot on your knees to dry it and started to massage him with the oils you brought to relax him better. Neither of you was saying anything, but this silence was nowhere near the awkwardness Hyunjin felt whenever he was around Yeji lately. It felt peaceful. He just watched you work miracles on him with your fingers, which was dangerously getting close to… arousing him.
Yet. Again.
The part of his mind drowned in thoughts was the only thing preventing him from getting a full-blown erection.
“Yeji and I kissed today,” he blurted out without thinking.
You stopped your movements for the briefest moment as you felt the tiniest drop of pain spread in the pit of your stomach.
“Oh,” you quickly picked it up where you left off and forced a smile, “Well, good for you.”
“Good for me?”
“Of course,” you continued without looking at him, “You are familiar with basil, right my lord?”
“Yes?”
“Women are like basil in a sense. They only give off their fragrance when touched lovingly.”
Hyunjin slowly reached out his hand and caressed your cheek, finally stealing your attention to look him in the eye.
“But I like your fragrance,” he emphasized, lacerating your heart with every word. You cleared your throat and acted like you didn’t hear what he just said.
“I am sure your lady appreciated it.”
“She did not. Neither did I.”
Now it was your turn to be confused. Who in the world would not appreciate being kissed? No, who in the world would not appreciate being kissed by Hyunjin unless they were out of their minds?
“I don’t–I don’t understand.”
“It didn’t give me the pleasure it does when I’m kissing you,” Hyunjin averted his eyes from you, “When we kiss… something happens to me. Kissing you is like throwing a match on dry pieces of wood. I feel my soul leave my body.”
You momentarily closed your eyes for how his words were stirring something violent in you.
“It awakens things in me. I get crushed under the thoughts of you,” he continued, “I want to do things to you. I want you to do things to me. I want us to lose ourselves in each other and merge into this single entity.”
He stopped your movements and held your face in his, making sure you wouldn’t be able to play dumb this time.
“Nothing tempts me as much as you do. Nothing is this seductive. You are a temptress, but you’re my temptress, and I love everything about you.”
“It is an illusion, my lord. Trust me, you will feel the same thing for your lady,” you laid the towels on the floor and put his feet on them, “This should do the trick. Please rest for a while.”
You almost ran out of that room, your heart about to jump out of your chest. If you breathed the same air as Hyunjin for five more seconds, you were scared you were going to come down with something incurable. You put away the tub and made your way back to the kitchen, pruning your basil for a long, long, long time.
“What do you say we plant a little vegetable garden in front of the kitchen, Jaehyun?” you suddenly asked her as she was cooking behind you, “We can grow herbs, too!”
After getting permission from Lady Hwang, Jaehyun handed you a list of herbs and vegetables she would like to grow, and you made your way to the downtown marketplace. You had zero idea about how to plant and maintain a garden no matter how small, but someone would give you proper instructions, right?
“Excuse me? I’d like some help here, please?”
A man of superb build emerged from behind the shop and started walking towards you.
“Oh wow, it is rare to see beauty queens drop by,” he launched a pair of charming dimples at you.
“You flatter me, my lord,” you politely bowed your head to him.
“Oh please, my lord would be Bahng Senior,” he shook his hand from side to side, “I am just Christopher.”
“Oh, you are a friend of Young Lord Hwang’s, aren’t you?” you pointed your finger at him upon hearing the familiar name.
“Yes, I am,” he nodded in approval, “Are you an acquaintance of the Hwangs, my lady?”
“I do not own a rank, my lord,” you corrected him, “I am more of a guest in their manor.”
“Again. Christopher,” he emphasized, “I would like it better if you called me by my name.”
This man had such a comfortable presence that after merely several minutes of conversing with him, you already felt like you knew him for a long time. You showed him your list and talked about your plans, and Christopher brought everything you would need to create your little garden from scratch.
“This is quite the load. Do you have anyone to help you with these back home?”
Well, no. Since you foolishly thought you would only be buying a bunch of seeds, you had only brought yourself, so this kind man graciously volunteered to accompany you back.
“Say uh… Do you have any plans in about two weeks?” he abruptly asked on the way.
“In two weeks?” you raised your brows at him, “That is an oddly specific date.”
“I am sure you know. It’s Hyunjin’s wedding, and I’m supposed to bring someone,” he continued leisurely, “Would you like to come with me?”
You involuntarily burst into a very loud cackle. You weren’t laughing because it was hilarious. Rather, because it was unbearably painful to hear this out loud from someone else.
It made things too real all of a sudden.
“You are very funny indeed.”
“False. I am very serious.”
“You don’t even know who I am.”
“So? How is that a prerequisite for an invitation to a ball? We will have a nice meal and converse,” Christopher made an irrefutably good point, “On the contrary, is that not what people do to get to know each other?”
“It would be more appropriate if you attended with someone of your own class, my lord.”
“Christopher. And people of my own class are endlessly boring, thank you very much. I would very much rather attend with you.”
You didn’t know how to properly respond to that. You have never been invited to attend your own funeral before.
“Say yes,” he was smiling at you a little too charmingly, “Come on, say yes to me.”
“I will think about it,” you said eventually.
“I will take it!” he broke into a heartbreakingly overjoyed giggle as he walked with you into the kitchen, “Is Hyunjin around? I would like to say hi.”
“The young lord attends school during the daytime.”
“Oh, right, his classes,” he slapped his forehead, “Alright then. I will visit tomorrow to help you with planting, okay?”
From that day forward, Christopher kept coming over to show you how to plant and maintain your garden, the amount of water you should be using, the importance of shades, and everything else you could possibly need. He wasn’t even coming through the front door; he was letting himself in through the back entrance the manor employees used, spending an hour tutoring you and Jaehyun, having lunch with you in the kitchen, and then going back to his store.
Christopher didn’t feel as lordly as the other men of high class you knew—he was speaking, dressing, and acting like the staff of this place, and if you saw him on the street, you would have never guessed he was the heir of the Bahngs.
Then one day, Hyunjin walked into the kitchen and saw you through the window sending somebody off, waving at them with a warm smile.
“Is that… Christopher?” he asked Jaehyun, squinting his eyes to make out the distant figure.
“Yes, young master,” she answered with a nod, “We have just finished our daily garden care with him.”
“What do you mean ‘daily’?” Hyunjin’s brows creased in mild disapproval, “Has he been coming here when I’m gone?”
“Yes, young master.”
Unaware of Hyunjin’s presence in the kitchen, you headed back inside through the garden entrance. You were in dire need of rest as the day’s ‘tutoring’ had taken the life out of you. Shortly after you reached your floor, you heard quick footsteps approaching you from behind in the marble corridor.
“Can I ask you something?” Hyunjin’s voice echoed in the hallway.
You turned around on your heels and faced a somewhat agitated Hyunjin. He looked tense, not to mention the total lack of greeting to preface his question, certainly an odd behavior for him.
“Well, good day to you, too my lord,” you quipped, “How may I be of service?”
It was fine while he was walking towards you, but once he stood in front of you, Hyunjin suddenly felt overwhelmed. He was unable to directly look at you. He opened his mouth to say something, but words weren’t coming out. After examining the floor for a good ten seconds, he finally mustered enough courage to stitch some words together.
“I’ve heard Christopher has been coming to the house lately.”
“Yes?”
What did you mean yes? How could you say that so nonchalantly? Was he not enough for you? Did you know Christopher frequented pleasure houses? There was no way that man could love you as violently as he did!!!
“Why–Why are you…” he played with his fingers nervously, trying to put a leash on his boiling-hot jealousy, “Why are you spending so much time with him?”
You couldn’t process the question at first. Why would you spend time with him? Wasn’t it obvious? Did Jaehyun not fill him in properly?
“I bought necessities from their shop for the garden we are growing with Jaehyun, and he comes over to teach us how to take care of it.”
“But why?” Hyunjin insisted, “Where does his sudden interest in gardening come from?”
“They are in the business of agriculture, my lord. Is that not expected?”
“He has never soiled his hands with dirt before, and they have staff they could send. I would like to know why he is coming here in person.”
“Then you should ask Lord Christopher about that,” you shrugged and turned around to leave.
“He doesn’t have to come all the way here,” he grabbed your wrist in a hurry to stop you, “Tell him I can help you with whatever it is you need.”
“You attend school during the day, my lord. I don’t wish to bother you with mundane things like gardening when you come home.”
“He fancies you, does he not?” he clenched his jaw, and you could see how heated he was getting by the second, “Did he make an inappropriate advance on you?”
“What do you mean by inappropriate?”
“I mean inappropriate as in something not appropriate. As in things one does not do to someone else’s WIFE!”
“DO NOT raise your voice when you are talking to me!!!”
You harshly pulled your hand away from him and took a deep breath to instill reasoning back into your brain again.
“He doesn’t know that I am currently your wife. No one does.”
“But I do.”
“You do realize you are getting married to someone else in ten days, yes?”
Hyunjin’s heart sank to his stomach. He knew that in theory, but he didn’t realize it was… that soon. For all he cared, you were his wife and a part of him…
An undeniably huge part of him really wanted it to stay that way.
“Thinking I am unmarried, Lord Christopher asked for my companionship to attend your wedding. I said I would think about it to spare his feelings, but I do not have any intention of accepting this invitation. Does that answer your question?”
You took three steps towards him and spoke as seriously as you could convey.
“Communication, my lord. You fail as a husband if you go to bed without resolving your conflicts with your lady. I told you not to assume things. Consider this your sermon for today.”
Right when you turned around, you twisted your ankle quite badly and almost fell flat on the floor. Hyunjin reflexively grabbed you by your waist and helped you to your room. Once he sat you down on your corner couch, he noticed how swollen your feet were in your slippers.
“Don’t move.”
Shortly after, he reappeared in your room with the same large metal tub from several days ago and a bunch of towels on his shoulder. He sat on the floor in front of you, rolled up his sleeves, and soaked your feet in the cold salt water. He fished for something in his pockets, and when he put them right next to him, you realized they were the same oil vials you left in his room. All that followed was silence but rather than awkward, it was a bit jittery this time.
“I apologize for raising my voice,” he spoke while massaging your feet on his knees, eyes glued to his own hands, “I’m… I’m really sorry.”
Maybe it was the way he was sulking for upsetting you, maybe it was his creased brows, but you felt the tiniest crack in your annoyance, signaling you it started to melt.
“Listen, my lo—”
“It’s Hyunjin.”
All of a sudden, you felt those succulent lips of his pressed on your knee. Then another one. Then another one, asking for forgiveness over and over again as he was climbing up. His hand slithered up the skirt of your dress and landed on your inner thigh.
“Hyunjin…”
He wasn’t listening to you. He just kept kissing and caressing you like he was entranced, ascending his way dangerously close to your pussy. When he finally reached his target, he slid your undergarments to the side and groaned at the glistening sight as if he were seeing it for the very first time.
“Wet. So wet. Soaked,” he kissed your folds after each word, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Hyunjin, you d— Hyunj— Oh… Oh god…”
He pushed the tub to the side and pulled himself closer to you, putting your hands on his head in the meantime. This wasn’t eating your pussy; this was something else. Just glides of his tongue on your clit, as slow as they could be like there was no tomorrow. Getting you to drip and drip and drip for him.
“Forgive me,” he placed kisses after kisses all over your labia, “Please forgive me, darling.”
You were turning into a puddle with his beautiful face between your legs, quietly humming and slurping on you as if you were doing him a favor. When he pressed your hands on his head to dive deeper into you, you couldn’t hold it any longer and arched into his mouth. The way you moaned his name again and again as you were cumming, each time in a higher pitch than the one before… It was everything to him. While you were trying to recollect yourself, Hyunjin grabbed a towel to dry your feet and carried you to the bed.
“How is this for resolving conflicts, darling?” he flashed an infinitely affectionate smile and kissed your forehead, “Rest for a while. I have an essay to write, but I will come back to check on you soon.”
He made a mental note of not going to bed without resolving conflicts, sure, but Hyunjin realized he didn’t want to go to bed without reconciling with his lady in between his sheets, either. Inhaling her, kissing her, moaning an I’m sorry with every thrust, asking for forgiveness over and over again until she screamed an uncontrollable yes. Then embracing her, caressing her, whispering lullabies into her ear. But that lady sure as hell was not Yeji.
How could she be when there was another woman under this very roof that he loved endlessly?
© 2024 Feelfolio. ⁞ Ko-fi
Translations & reposts of any kind are prohibited.