Chapter Tags/Warning : AU, Joseon AU, Noble AU, arranged marriage, sad with happy ending

Song #6

Lily - Daisuke Ishiwatari

Lily, you've not changed a bit.

The sky is not the same no more today.

There is no turning back.

“You will marry Miss Chaeri from Lee Family.” The finality and not up for argument tone in that strong voice pressed heavily on Seungkwan’s shoulders as the young man never once lifted his gaze from the piece of light blue handkerchief lying in defeat on his small writing table, to meet his mother's.

“Is that understood?” The woman asked with anger barely slipped into her voice when there was only silence responded to her words.

Dull eyes rose slowly when Seungkwan, for the first time since minutes ago, finally acknowledged his mother’s presence in his room. “Yes.” The short remote answer slipped out between the black haired man’s pale lips making the other presence standing in the middle of his square lavish room almost flinched at the uncaring tone.

The corner of her lips twitched slightly at the answer she got from her only son, a silence huff escaped from her lips which trembled with contained anger before she turned around swiftly with full grace and left the room hastily. The Mistress of Boo Household almost slid the paper door close harshly if not for her need to glance at her son again. “Cut every tie with him. I don't want to hear his name again and I want you to get rid of those filthy things.”

Gritting his teeth as he closed his eye shut tight, Seungkwan just stayed unmoving on the floor where he had been sitting cross legged when his mother closed the door and even told one of the servants to keep an eye on him, making sure the young man didn't leave his room. His hand clenched into fist above his knee, his nails embed deep crescent shape on his palm, trying to stimulate the pain until it could overwhelm his own held back anger and maddening disappointment.

Sharp intake of breath hitched Seungkwan’s train of messy emotion into a halt as wetness washed his fogged stare into clearness. His dark brown eyes once again found its way to his handkerchief, staring longingly at it as he prayed to Heaven to grant him a wish to meet his loved one again. He would have wished for the same thing for the hundredth time in his life when a loud muffled sound came from outside his room. He looked around, as if the answer would somehow written itself on his wall before he heard his manservant called from the outside his room. “ Naeuri ...”

“What is it?” Seungkwan asked, not moving from his spot inside the room as he glared at the closed door separating him and the young servant. The far muffled sound was still filling the space of his home. “What’s happening?”

There was no immediate answer from the other side, angering the young noble furthermore after his clash with his mother. “Tell me what it is.” He roared aloud, anger was thick in his voice and the bang of his fist slamming onto his table sent his manservant to bow down until his head reached the wooden floor, he knew from the silhouette on his paper door.

Small shaky sigh slipped past the paper door and Seungkwan realized that he had scared his servant with his short temper, he blamed himself for not able to hold it in, yet the handkerchief in his hand told him that he had any right to be angry. However he still needed to have his servant to tell him what had happened outside, thus he calmed himself and called the servant to come into his room and told him directly.

With the sound of wood slid along the wood pane, Seungkwan saw his servant still with his head bowed down, opened the door before slipping in. There was loud shout, Seungkwan could identify it as his mother’s voice, before the door closed again behind his servant.

“What's actually happening outside?” Seungkwan asked immediately, fixing his eyes on the young man who had been working for his family since birth, and becoming his trusted friend.

Seokmin, the servant, sat up abruptly, panic and worried expression marring his face. “It's Vernon-ssi. He comes here and asks to meet you. But Naeuri’s mother tells him to leave.”

Eyes opened wide, Seungkwan stood up from his sitting position, his blue and white robe fluttered following his abrupt movement as he strode to open the window. Soon, the muffled sound became clearer as it could echo into his room. From his room at the very back of the enormous household, he couldn't clearly hear what the people out there talking about. Yet, he was still able to pinpoint which voices belong to whom. And most of the loud voices belonged to his mother.

Slumping down onto the floor, Seungkwan looked at the piece of clothes in his fist as he strained his hearing to find Vernon’s voice.

“Please! I need to meet him and tell him something!”

The plea in Vernon's usually strong and confident voice broke Seungkwan’s defense, tears made its way down his cheek slowly. He heard movement from behind him, the sound of the window pulled close and then followed by door sliding opened and closed told him that Seokmin had kindly giving him a space for himself.

More tears streamed down like small waterfall, and some of them stained his clothes with dark wet spots. “Vernon-ssi..” He called into the empty space of his room, fingers clenching tightly the blue handkerchief he got from Vernon. Stifling his sob, Seungkwan sadly told his servant. “Tell him that he shall leave because I can't meet him anymore.”

Covers are all we judge books by today,

If they're shiny or not.

Every page inside is meaningful as always

But no one's gonna read them out again.

One afternoon when they found out that they had the same interest, Vernon took Seungkwan to visit the harbor.

“That's the ship I came here with.” Vernon said with big smile, catching the interested look on Seungkwan’s face as the Korean awed by the sight of creation he had never got to see with his own eyes before.

“That's amazing!” Seungkwan said with accentuated dialect as he swept his gaze across the length of the ship, it’s not only double or triple the size of regular ship from wood, it was way much bigger. His right hand placed above his eyes as he squinted to look at the detail of the ship as best as he could from afar. Turning around, he looked at the foreigner in front of him. “I want to sail with this ship too! Sailing across the sea to new places. It will be amazing adventure.”

Laughing along with Seungkwan, Vernon joked as he nudged the noble's side. “But, you need to learn English first.”

“Yah! It's not my fault I never speak English.” Seungkwan bit on Vernon's joke with annoyed huff. Yet deep down he was glad that the foreigner’s father was Korean and taught his children Korean language, he was also glad that Vernon could speak Korean fluently and joined his father visiting their homeland. If not, Seungkwan would never meet this fun half Korean friend.

Oh, please! Don't wait for me, darling!

Stay out of the cold rain,

Or your heart may become rusty!

Oh, please! Don't wait for me, darling!

Don't stand there in this heat!

Your soul is drying up!

You don't need to wait for us!

As if understanding what he felt, Heaven seemed to cry with him as droplets of coldnes s drowned the shouts completely that the only thing he could hear was the sound of water hitting his family’s household’s roof and some part of the vast ground of Joseon. The next heir of Boo family curled tightly inside the warm confine of his room. Seungkwan faintly heard Seokmin, staying outside of his room, relaying order to other servant to warm up the young master’s room as the heavy rain would most likely continue until late night.

Seungkwan didn’t realize when he did fall asleep during his cries, yet when he woke up, it was because Seokmin had came into his room again to serve a set of dinner for him. Duly noted that he ate the meal inside his room alone, not with his family in the common room, the young man mumbled something under his breath before starting his lonely dinner. He hadn’t had any meal that day, he remembered tiredly; his mother had started ranting first thing in the morning giving him no chance to eat breakfast. Then at noon, he was too sad in his bawling that he didn’t notice time flew fast and he had fallen asleep in his cry.

Why did he cry so hard ? He asked himself blankly, he was so tired after crying all day. Ah right, Vernon came and asked to be allowed to meet him.

At the thought of the foreigner, Seungkwan jolted up from his seat, he looked urgently at Seokmin who dutifully waited by the door. “Vernon-ssi.. What about him? Had he gone back?” he asked, gulping in fear of what his mother would do to the other young man, now that she had known about his uncommon relationship with Vernon.

Looking so nervous, Seokmin kept his eyes looking at the floor not daring to meet the young master's eyes. “He.. Vernon-ssi has been staying under the rain for some hours...”

“What?” Seungkwan dropped his chopsticks and brought his hands to cover his mouth in shock. Not straying his gaze from his faithful servant, he asked almost hysterical. “Why? Why did he still stay there? He will get sick!”

“I’m truly sorry for this, Naeuri. But Vernon-ssi won't budge no matter how many times we had begged him to leave.” Seokmin said, he bowed low until his head meet the floor.

Sighing with tears once again welled up on the corner of his eyes; Seungkwan used his right fist to hit his chest. “Vernon-ssi.” He cried. “Why do we have to meet like this?”

Later, from Seokmin, Seungkwan heard about Vernon continued staying there, ignoring the continuous pleas from the servant and even Seokmin who had relayed the message from Seungkwan. His eyes insistently waited for the sight of Seungkwan emerged from this enormous house. It was only until late at night when the foreigner's own servant came up to him and pulling him back to their semi permanent residence as the young man’s father had been looking for him.

Seungkwan thought that it would put Vernon's action to a stop, thinking that Vernon’s own father would stop his son from doing this useless attempt. Yet when the next morning came, everyone in the Korean Noble’s household was surprised when Vernon came again. His face was paler than the noon before and his tired expression showed them that he didn't get any second of sleep the night before.

He would stay there until late night and his servant forced him to go back, with no chance of meeting Seungkwan at all as the Korean young man’s mother banned him from stepping outside their house if Vernon was still there.

Several days passed in futile attempt of stopping Vernon, and Seungkwan was so stressed and frustrated with the worrying state of Vernon which Seokmin told him. Closing his eyes, Seungkwan tried for the uncountable times to find a right way to stop Vernon from killing himself. Yet with how lack of control he had on his emotion, he lost his better judgment and took a drastic measure which he knew would hurt the other immensely.

“Tell him,” The young heir stated. “Tell Vernon that I won't meet him anymore.”

“Naeuri?” The servant looked confusedly at him, they had been telling the foreigner that since days ago and he didn't even react. What could make this one different?

“Also,” Seungkwan added. “Tell him that I'll marry my fiance.”

Seungkwan closed his eyes, not meeting the surprised look on his servant's face. He didn't say anything afterwards, even after said servant left the room to do what he had just told him.

Lily, you'll never change.

The winds are not so soft no more today.

They've changed to cold and sad.

It was like a fate - or like those silly and nonsense romantic novels his sisters read in secret with their friends. How he knew about it, it was because his sisters often talked and using the novel as a comparison to their lack of romantic adventure -, their meeting happened near the harbor. Seungkwan was searching a gift for his sister who would get married soon. He was looking at the range of accessories displayed on the stall when a deep voice with weird accent came from beside him.

“How much is this?” Looking to his side, Seungkwan saw a man whose face he never saw before. Not in literally way, but more like how he had never seen a face which looked like this person's face.

He looked foreign, the sharp edge of his cheekbone and his strong looking jaw. His face looked so different compared to any other male he had ever seen. His overall appearance too was different from what he usually saw in town.

Seungkwan didn't realize that he had been staring at this stranger until he turned looking at him with raised eyebrow. “Hello?” The man with fitted looking black clothes greeted him with that weird sounding of the supposed to be familiar word.

A bit flustered that he had been caught staring at someone; Seungkwan opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as he looked around the small road filled with numerous stalls, not meeting the other's gaze. “Eh.. Oh.. Hello.” He started by replying the greeting before asking right away, “I've never seen you before.” He said, using his hand to show what he meant by his words.

“Ah.. Me and my unusual appearance?” The young man laughed, yet it was not mocking one. “It's because I'm not from here. I'm from America.”

Knitting his eyebrows in confusion, Seungkwan repeated the word he had never heard before. “America?” A funny looking expression crossed his face as he tried to understand a word which sounded like a riddle to him.

Smiling, the stranger added. “It's a faraway land. You have to travel by ship to reach there.”

It took several long moments of repeated explanation from the stranger who introduced himself as Vernon, until Seungkwan could understand about the world outside his beautiful Joseon.

“I see… I thought there was nothing beyond the sea.” Seungkwan admitted thoughtfully, “so,