Hanyang, 1425

In the middle of King Sejong’s reign, Joseon was experiencing a flourish of culture and wealth. Agriculture and commerce were at its peak, resulting in abundance for the citizens, living them more time to pursue literature, art and science.

In this era lived the family of Yook and Park.

The Yook family had been the sole supplier of rice for the palace, and it had been going on for generations, making them one of the wealthiest merchants in the kingdom.

The Park family was the biggest producer of writing paper, gaining more and more profit since literature bloomed in that era, and the demand of writing paper was increasing every year.

The current heads of Yook and Park family were friends since they met in Sungkyunkwan Academy. Since they were both busy, their children never really met each other. However their wives knew each other well, since the couples liked to visit each other’s house for lunches.

Yook family had two children. The oldest was a daughter named Sungyoung, and the second and only son was named Sungjae.

Park family had three daughters, named Sooyoung, Jiyeong and Minji.

It was not a surprise at all when the fathers announced that they would arrange the marriage of Sungjae with Sooyoung.

This was decided when Sungjae was fifteen years old, and Sooyoung was fourteen. Neither was shocked with the decision. They both had a suspicion for years that it would happen.

Both had never met, because their houses were at the two farthest areas in Hanyang, exactly at the two opposites of the city. All the parents were strict with their children’s education, so they didn’t want to cut their children’s tutoring lessons to bring them to visit each other.

Actually, in Joseon era, to marry when they were fifteen and fourteen were normal. But Sungjae felt he wasn’t ready, so he asked his father to postpone it until he was old enough.

He asked to marry when he was twenty years old, and although with some difficulty, his father finally agreed.

The most normal age for a man to marry in that era was eighteen, and a woman at seventeen. Since the Yook and Park really loved their children, they agreed to postpone the marriage until Sungjae graduated from Sungkyunkwan Academy and officially started working in the family business.

At first, it was hard for Park Chanyeol, Sooyoung’s father, to accept the marriage postponement. However, when Sungjae offered to also manage his writing paper business if he wished him to, he conceded. Sungjae then wrote a letter to his future father in-law, saying he would need to study Park’s family business as well, and it would take some time, so the postponement was only appropriate.

In truth, Park Chanyeol felt like he was being defeated by a child, since Sungjae negotiated so well. Still, he admitted that the young boy was smart, and therefore it wouldn’t be a loss to have him as a son in-law in the future.

With a good feeling, Park Chanyeol agreed with the marriage postponement, saying he and his daughter would wait until Sungjae was twenty years old.

Sungjae didn’t oppose or tried to see Sooyoung when he was fifteen. He loved his parents dearly, and it didn’t occur to him to disobey. He was actually barely older than a child. His days were filled with his tutoring lessons, learning about his family business, then playing with his friends.

His father had arranged him to study under the best scholars of Joseon, the ones who also tutored the princes in the palace. He studied with six other boys for years, whose fathers were also the friends of his.

Being the youngest in his group of friends, he spent his free time having picnics, riding horses, and flying kites with them. They also liked going to the market to watch the peasants’ theatre, dined together in restaurants, and heard the music players and singers performing in the street.

Marriage was the last thing on his mind. It was a shock to hear about his own arranged marriage a day after his fifteenth birthday.

He thought it would be best to postpone it.

As for Park Sooyoung herself, it was enough for him to know, when he was fifteen, that she was a good and pretty girl.

*****************************************************

Without much care in the world, Sungjae entered Sungkyunkwan Academy a year later. The four years were spent in a carefree yet serious way, since all his six friends also went to the academy with him, he always looked back to that time as one of the best time in his life. They always competed with each other in class, resulting in good scores over the year that made all the families proud.

The good achievements were simply because they would give each other ridiculous punishments for the one who got the lowest score between them.

Such as doing a handstand to the count of 1000, or drinking water mixed with a very spicy gochujang that would cause diarrhea.

Four years passed so fast, and without realizing it, he graduated from the academy.

They all had decided to not try for the government official’s exam, because none of them wanted to be government’s officials. They all would continue their families' businesses.

It was also the year of marriage for the seven of them, as they all couldn’t postpone it anymore.

Sungjae didn’t have much emotion for the upcoming marriage, which was decided to be on October that year.

He just had to do it, and he trusted his parents’ choice for him. That was just the way it had to be, and he didn’t fight it.

Park Sooyoung would be brought to his house, and they would live together there from the marriage onwards.

Sungjae thought it was really convenient for him, but might be really hard for her, since from what he heard, Sooyoung had always been the dearest daughter in her family, and had never left her parents all her life, except to play with her four friends.

It was hard being a woman, he thought.

You had to leave your world to be with a man you never met.

Sungjae didn’t have a lot of experience in even speaking with women, except the maids in his house, whom he barely see their faces, and the sisters of his friends.

But all he ever did with them were only greeting and having small chats with them, if they passed each other in the market or the temple.

All his friends’ sisters were already married by then, and when they met briefly, they would always be nice, but they treated him as a younger brother.

His father, Yook Hyunseung, told him that he had to do the obligatory visit to the best gisaeng house in the city, to “learn how to make children” from the gisaengs there.

Sungjae had been taught that love making should only be done with his wife, and was horrified with the order.

“Everyone does that. All the young masters from noble families do that before their marriage, Adeul. Just treat it as an observation.”

“But, Abeoji, I don’t—“

Hyunseung held out a hand to stop his son’s tirade.

“You are lucky because I dislike the culture of giving a maid in bed for a son.”

“Wh—a maid in bed? What’s that?”

Hyunseung sighed. At that very moment, he worried that he had taught his son wrongly. He really wanted to have a son with good manners, not a son that slept around and have a dozen mistresses, drinking all day long and never worked seriously a day in his life.

Because of that, he had spent a lot of energy in educating his son to be a good and pure man, choosing his teachers carefully, introducing him to sons from fathers with the same vision as his.

Now that Sungjae was so shocked to the order of visiting the gisaeng house, he worried whether Sungjae would be able to produce children or not.

But then he reminded himself that good guys didn’t mean they would never touch their wives. With that, he consoled himself.

“Don’t worry, Adeul. All you have to do is talk with the head of the gisaeng house, see a—erm, demonstration, receive a book which you have to read, then went back home. You can even bring your footman there.”

He didn’t know that, yet it was indeed the culture of the era.

So Sungjae had to go through the ordeal.

It scared him to see women in such colourful, sheer clothes, drinking alcohol, sitting so close with men, and laughing so loud.

He then sat in a sitting room with the head of the gisaeng house, who explained in a flat tone, how to consummate a marriage, with a picture of a woman and a man spread on the table between them.

Sungjae felt amazed how a woman could talk that freely with a man she never met, but then reminded himself that she was an expert in her profession.

Next, he had to sit in a dimly lit room, watching a beautiful gisaeng and a handsome slave performing the deed in practice. His seat was a meter away from the bed.

Instead of feeling aroused, he had to fight the urge to vomit so many times.

When it was done and the two “performers” left the room, Sungjae was pale, sweating, and hyperventilating.

He gagged and his footman dashed out then dashed back with a bucket.

He threw up all his dinner into the bucket, then became ill with fever for the next three days.

If he became aroused and called the gisaeng who performed that night into the house, his father would feel relieved. Instead, his son fell into a stupor, refusing to eat or drink.

When he finally recovered, his footman gave him a book about the said consummation.

Sungjae pushed it away, but then his footman, a man named Baekhyun, insisted, “Your father ordered you to read this. And I have to wait until you are done. The gisaeng lady gave this to you. Your wedding is a month away. Your father said, if you don’t finish reading this, he will have me hit by a wooden stick, fifty times. Please be kind and save my legs from breaking, Doryeonnim.”

Grumbling, Sungjae finally read it. It bewildered him. He understood it, but didn’t know whether he should believe even a word of it or not.

How could two people even survive for five seconds in these kinds of nearly acrobatic positions? There were graphic pictures and he thought all of them were really, really strange.

He was smart, and usually could finish a book in a day.

However, that book needed three days for him to finish, since he had to take a lot of deep breaths and drank lots of water, snorted and grumbled a lot, before finally finishing it.

Once it was done, Baekhyun brought the book to Yook Hyunseung.

“Doryeonnim had finished reading this book, Hwejangnim.”

“Did he really read everything?”

“Ye, Hwejangnim.”

“What does he think of the book?”

“He hated it very much.”

Hyunseung was worried again about the future of his family name.

Would Sungjae be able to create sons in the future? I have protected him too much, this is all my fault. If he’s too afraid to touch his wife, I would be guilty to our ancestors.

However, he himself had met Park Sooyoung, and he had confidence in her beauty. If Sungjae was too afraid, he hoped Park Sooyoung could be sensible enough to make Sungjae did what’s necessary.

*****************************************************

A week before he was married, Sungjae was given a painting of Sooyoung.

He thought the painting was pretty.

She was painted in what looked like a garden, holding flowers in her hands.

A painting could lie, though, he reminded himself.

It was enough if she was an average looking girl and kind.

****************************************************

No matter how he wished the day would not come – he started dreading it since he was forced to go to that gisaeng house—his wedding day finally came.

His bride arrived with her whole family, accompanied with music and firecrackers.

She wore the traditional red dress and was looking down a lot.

Sungjae was also too shy to look at her.

In the end, they performed the wedding ceremonies without looking at each other.

It was a really long day, since they had to do so many rituals. However, he felt a bit anxious for it to end at all.

Nevertheless, everything was finished in the evening, and he and her had to do the ritual of entering his bedroom for the first time.

There were stone steps leading to his room, and her maid was still too far when the two of them were told to climbed up the steps.

Feeling annoyed and knowing it was expected for him to do it, Sungjae reached out an open hand.

Park Sooyoung carefully reached it.

Slowly, he helped her climbed the stairs.

He wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at the hem of her dress, not wanting her to topple over and making him have to catch her body.

Although the elders might really love it, he grumbled inside.

At that precise second, he realized the hand he was holding was trembling.

He looked up and turned to her.

He saw the side profile of a white face.

Instantly, he felt sorry for her.

*****************************************************

His bedroom was decorated with paper ribbons of blue and red, and smelling strangely too flower-ish for his liking.

He was still looking around his own bedroom, when the lady that had been leading the marriage rituals all day, spoke, “Bride, bow three times to your husband.”

Two maids helped Sooyoung to formally bow to Sungjae, three times.

He wanted to stop her, it looked like so much trouble with the bridal crown and the layers of her dress, but maybe she would be in trouble if he really did stop her.

“Groom, bow to your wife, once.”

He bowed to her.

Once it was done, they were both led to the dining table, which was full of dishes for two.

“Bride, pour makgeolli for your husband.”

Sooyoung reached for the clay bottle and cup, pouring it as carefully as she could.

They all could see her hand trembled, so much that she spilled the makgeolli.

“Mianheyo, I—“

“It’s alright.”

His voice made her looked up, and they looked at each other for the first time in their life.

Sungjae’s heart stopped beating for a second.

She’s more beautiful than the painting, he thought.

Sooyoung was going to clean the spilled makgeolli from the table with her own silk, embroidered handkerchief.

Sungjae took the cup to save her from the trouble.

“It’s alright” he said once more, taking a sip of the makgeolli to signal that she managed to do that step of ritual successfully.

“Bride,” the ritual lady continued, “feed your husband.”

They were sitting between a circular, small dining table with two empty chairs. It would have fit four people.

Sooyoung had to move to a chair beside Sungjae to reach him.

He smelled wisteria when she was near. That might be her perfume.

She reached for the chopsticks and asked, “Wh—which one, Doryeonnim?”

“Um....the egg rolls.”

Sooyoung took the eggrolls and put it in front of his lips.

Once more, everyone could see her trembling hands.

Sungjae moved forward and ate it.

Once he was done and sipped his tea, the ritual lady and the maids prepared to leave the room.

“May you are blessed with the marriage, and could produce healthy children.”

With that, they all bowed, closed the doors to his bedroom, and locked it from the outside.

The silence inside his room became profound.

He could see her looking down again.

He couldn’t see her hands, so he guessed she was her own dress in fear.

It must be terrifying, leaving her own home and now being left alone with him, a complete stranger.

“Don’t be afraid of me.”

Sooyoung looked up at that.

His heart skipped a beat again.

She was indeed really beautiful.

“This is the first time we meet. I won’t do anything to you tonight. We must get to know each other first.”

“Jeongmalyo, Doryeonim?”

Even her voice sounded nice, he decided.

“Ne. And don’t call me that. You’re my wife, not my maid.”

“Ye, Y—Yook Sungjae-nim.”

Sungjae wanted to correct that as well, but he didn’t know what else she could call him as.

Sooyoung then stared at her clasped hands. She was wearing jade rings and lots of bracelets. They jingled whenever she moved.

Sungjae had a feeling she would sit like that all night if he said nothing.

So, wanting to save her from feeling so afraid, he said, “Try to have some dinner.”

“Sh—should I serve you?”

“Aniya. I can eat by myself, thank you. Please eat comfortably.”

She wouldn’t move until he had his first bite.

She was so afraid, she barely could hold her own rice with her chopsticks.

Sungjae felt really sorry again, and gave her the nearest soup spoon.

“Don’t mind the chopsticks, just eat with that.”

She suddenly burst to tears, which shocked him so much.

“Sooyoung-ssi! Why are you crying?”

“I’m—mianheyo, you must think I’m very stupid!”

“No, no, I don’t.”

She wiped her tears and took a shuddering breath.

“Mianheyo.”

“Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong.”

“Je—jeongmal—yo? I don’t—annoy you?”

“No, you don’t. I just feel that you’re really brave. Going all the way here, getting married to someone you never met, leaving your house....”

“It’s—it is hard” she admitted, “But, it doesn’t mean I—I oppose this marriage. Omo, why can’t I—stop crying?”

“Don’t cry, Sooyoung-ssi. I understand. I’m not angry.”

“You—you’re not?”

“I really am not.”

“I’m—I’m just—really scared. And I shouldn’t have cried.”

“It’s alright. Here, have some tea.”

Sungjae poured her a full cup of green tea, but she cried again, “You’re the—husband, I’m supposed to be—the one to—serve you.”

“Aigoo, all I do is making you cry.”

Sooyoung cried harder, “This is—my fault, not yours.”

Panicking, Sungjae reached for her hands, which made her flinched.

“I don’t mean to scare you. Please, I just need you to calm down.”

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry for being such a—mess.”

“You’re not a mess. Listen to me, you’re doing well.”

Sooyoung stopped crying at that.

“I swear to you, you’re doing well. Now take a deep breath.”

She obeyed and took a deep breath, although it’s not that smooth, with the remains of her crying.

“Do it twice more.”

She listened.

“Now drink your tea.”

She did, gulping it to the last drop.

“Omo, I do realize it now. I’m really thirsty.”

Sungjae poured her another cup of tea.

Once she finished it, he asked, “One more?”

She nodded.

She’s cute, he thought, and poured her another one.

She finished it again.

“Do you feel better now?”

She nodded.

“Try to have some dinner.”

She followed obediently.

She listened to everything I said, he realized with amazement.

The dinner then continued without another incident.

But when they walked to his bed, and he took off his own bridegroom outfit, he realized she stood like a stone in front of the bed.

“Don’t worry. We will just sleep together in one bed tonight. Don’t be afraid.”

“I—“

“Yes?”

“I think, Yook Sungjae-ssi, you—you have to—“

“I have to, what?”

“You have to—help me undress.”

Her tears dropped again for having to say such an embarrassing thing.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, I forgot.”

He was already in his under-clothing, a white shirt and pants.

He already practiced how to undress his bride a few days ago, since the dress and crown was complicated.

He had strongly refused to undress a maid as a practice though, and had ordered Baekhyun to dress as a bride, stressing his father even more.

Baekhyun hated that either and glared at his master the whole time.

It was really different doing it with the real bride.         

He asked Sooyoung to sit down on the bed as he carefully undid her crown.

“Tell me if I hurt you” he warned.

He didn’t, though. Although slower than his liking, he managed to carefully took off her crown, managing to not hurt her scalp as he pulled off the hairpins.

There were jewels around the crown as well, with jewelled hairpin stuck on several places.

How she had endured getting it on and wearing a hairdo like that all day, he had no idea.

Sooyoung fisted her dress again during this whole procedure, feeling his breath fanning her nape.

She said nothing though, and he was too focused to realize she was nervous with their close proximity.

He then loosened her hair and it tumbled from the bun on her hair into a long, thick string of braided black hair. Again, her hair smelled like flowers.

“That’s a lot of jewels and pins” Sungjae commented afterwards, scooping them all with his hands and putting them aside on a nearby table.

He felt shy when he realized it was time to help her undress.

Knowing she was even more shy than him gave him some bravery, though.

“Come, you need to stand up so I can help you undress.”

It took him a few minutes, as she stood really still, until he managed to free her off all her layers, ing and loosening strings, leaving her in just her white underdress.

Once he’s done, he put away her dress on the carved clothing railing. The maids would take care of them in the morning.

“Please sleep comfortably” he said gently.

She didn’t move.

His bed was the Chinese style one. His family didn’t sleep on a laid mattress on the floor.

He slept on a carved bed with a mattress on it. And it was put on one side of his bedroom wall.

“Um, please go first, I prefer the outer side.”

She climbed the bed and sat on her side.

He sat down as well.

It was indeed really awkward.

He lied down first.

She followed.

They were both very silent, as they stared to the ceiling of his bed.

“If you hear the sound of trees tumbling in your sleep, you’re not having a nightmare, it’s me.”

“Wh—what do you mean?”

“I snore really, really loud.”

“........jeongmalyo?”

“Ne. You might not be able to sleep. Now I feel sorry for you.”

“It’s alright. I’ll endure it.”

Sungjae burst out laughing.

“Thank you” he replied.

Then, he did the mistake of turning to see her.

She did the same.

Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and they both blushed at that.

She was the first to move and stared back at the bed’s ceiling.

Sungjae thought it’s funny how his heart was beating really fast.

Would we even be able to sleep?

***************************************************

Author’s Note:

I can’t help it!!!

I really wanted to write this, so I did.

I just think they would both be cute even in Joseon era.

Don’t you agree?

Hope you like this fic as well.