It’s amusing what you’d see when you have one opinion in your mind.

Sooyoung was indeed getting to know her husband after she was married, but her perception with Sungjae’s was entirely different.

To be compared, she was walking slowly to get closer to him.

Sungjae never only walked slowly to get closer to her. He ran like the wind.

For starter, Sooyoung would never realize how much Sungjae intentionally entangled their life together ever since day one of their marriage.

In Joseon era, even after couples legally married, and especially in wealthy families, men and women lived in different quarters. This also happened with Sungjae and Sooyoung. Sungjae still kept his pavilion as the only son of Yook family, and Sooyoung was given a large pavilion complex for her own use.

What Sooyoung didn’t know was, they actually didn’t need to have lunch together in the weekend in Sungjae’s pavilion. He didn't have to have dinner everyday in hers, and to sleep on her bed every night, even before they became physically intimate.

Sooyoung never stopped to remember, that her own parents led their own individual lives. And so was the case for Sungjae’s parents.

The normal habit was for couples to only meet during breakfast, usually the wife visiting the husband for breakfast, or if they still have parents, to have breakfast together with their parents. Wealthy married couples had their own lives and schedule during the day.

It was unheard of for a man to sleep on one bed with his wife without the intention to have an with her.

Men and women of the wealthy read their books, wrote their letters and entertain their guests individually, in their own pavilions. It was not strange for couples from arranged marriages to only sleep together once a week, or for the husband to return to his own pavilion after the was over. Married men and women needed lots of personal space back then.

Sungjae was unusual since the first day.

He created a habit where Sooyoung had to come to his pavilion for lunch during the weekends, and he to go to her place every night. When he’s not working, he spent his entire day in her pavilion, be it reading his rice stock report books or his adventure books, writing his own letters of business, playing with their pets Sami and Haetnim, or taking a walk with Sooyoung around his massive house complex.

He practically almost abandoned his own pavilion, yet Sooyoung didn’t realize this.

His whole household knew this, including their sarcastic maid and servant, Taeyeon and Baekhyun, who never wasted any energy to reprimand him.

All his six friends were married, and their marriages were all arranged. They all respected their wives and were fond of them, but they followed the custom of that time. They regularly met their wives during breakfast, and spent their nights in their wives’ bed only every few days, or even only on the weekends. Besides that, their personal time was for their own privacy.

These were the things Sooyoung would never know, if not for a conversation with their four friends in the future.

After their first lovemaking, the couple woke up in each other’s arms, to Sooyoung’s utter embarrassment.

It hurt tremendously to simply walk, so the walk to and from Sungjae’s mother pavilion was a complete torture (breakfast at his mother’s pavilion had to be done be it rain or shine, snowstorm or drought).

To give her space, Sungjae had lunch with his friends, who were still staying at his house.

He sat down with her again for dinner that night, of which was passed in complete silence until he said, “Are you going to avoid looking at me for the rest of your life?”

“Ye. I’m just going to stare at your shoes until the end of time.”

To this Sungjae laughed.

Another silence passed before he exclaimed, “Ask for a painkiller tonic from the physician. You’ll feel a lot better.”

Taeyeon and Baekhyun exchanged a shock glance.

Have they......?

This was like announcing everything to the world, although it was not Sungjae’s intention. It was hard to have complete privacy in his huge household with servants and guards everywhere, and sooner or later, they would know what happened.

Sooyoung was utterly embarrassed that when she looked up at him, her eyes were full with tears.

“Mwo? Why are you crying?”

He moved to sit beside her and hugged her with one arm, whispering so the servants wouldn’t hear.

“What did I say?”

“You announce to everyone we already—“

“Well, mianhe, but I only think of you. It does hurt to walk, right?”

Sooyoung nodded.

“Then ask for a painkiller tonic. It’s alright.”

“But it’s so embarrassing!” Sooyoung whispered, wiping her own tears.

“Yah. We’re married. If I don’t touch you longer than this, bad rumours would start spreading. Everything is going well. Stop crying. Now, are you or are you not going to order for the tonic?”

“I will” she promised.

“Good. I’ll leave you now. See you later.”

Sungjae returned to his friends for their usual play of hilarious poems and music, and returned to his wife on bed time.

She was reading in bed, but sat down when he arrived.

Sungjae undressed to his under shirt and pants, and washed his hands and face.

“How was the poem night, Sungjaenim?”

“As crazy as my friends are.”

He had a new adventure book in his hand, before lying down on his side.

“Are you going to sit all night?” he asked, pulling gently at her braid.

Hearing that, Sooyoung awkwardly lied down beside him.

Sungjae read silently. After fifteen minutes, he paused and put down his book.

“I thought I was gentle last night, but apparently I hurt you more than I know. So I’m not going to take you tonight, and will give you a few days to recover.”

Sooyoung looked at him, looking really relieved.

“Have you had the tonic?”

She nodded.

“Does it help?”

“Ne.”

“Good” he chimed, reaching for her thick braid, shaking it as if it was a playing rope.

“You look too pretty with your hair down, Park Sooyoung. I think I better not loosen your hair unless I want to take you.”

She blushed at that.

“What are you blushing for? I’ve seen everything.”

That made her turned around, huffing and giving him her back.

He chuckled and kissed her shoulder.

“Did you study today?”

“Ne.”

“What was it?”

“Confucianism.”

“Ah. Do you like it?”

She turned back to look at him again.

“Yes. Very much.”

“..........you’re going to try to beat all the Confucianism essays I wrote at the academy right?”

She grinned, and nodding excitedly.

“What are you reading, Sungjaenim? That’s a new one.”

“This one? Ne. It’s about a young student in a Chinese martial art sect.”

“Can I read the previous one? The one that you just finished?”

“Would you like to?”

“Ne. Can I?”

“I don’t mind. But—it has some horror story in it as well. Would that be alright with you?”

“Yes. I don’t get afraid easily.”

“Jinjja? I get afraid with ghost stories.”

“I’m more afraid with stories about murderers.”

“Aniya. Ghost stories are scarier.”

“Aniyo. Thrillers are scarier.”

Sungjae grinned.

“We can agree to disagree, Sooyoung-ah. Shall I take that book?”

“Yes, please.”

He got up and took it. Sooyoung had saved one row in her bookshelf just for his fiction books, but she never touched it without his permission.

When he returned with the book, she eagerly started reading it.

Again, when Sungjae stole a look and saw her expression, he concluded once more, that she didn’t realize he was trying to make her feel comfortable with him again, after last night. She didn't have to know. He only wanted her to feel better.

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

Sungjae was going to give his wife one week to recover physically and mentally from their first time, but when his friends went back to their respective houses, and he had nothing to occupy himself at night, all his longing returned and he couldn’t wait for her any longer.

Sooyoung waited for him in bed, reading a new fiction that she borrowed from him, and was shocked when he reached for her braid and loosened it.

“Are you—“

Sungjae didn’t even give her time to finish the sentence, as he began kissing her demandingly, his arms reaching for her body, not planning to let her go anytime soon.

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

A few weeks later, Sungjae began working again in his rice shop office. It was an experience, really, dying for a woman who’s your wife, and when they’re only fifteen minutes apart from each other.

Yook family’s house complex was so massive that he needed fifteen minutes to walk from his office to his wife’s pavilion. Or five minutes riding a horse, but he rarely did this, because it seemed like such a pity to trouble the horses just for such a short distance.

Sooyoung was really sure at first, that his physical excitement towards her would lessen after a few times. But it didn’t lessen the whole winter, and she started to doubt how many times could be said “a few times.”

Sungjae remained ultimately interested in his wife. His longest streak to not touch her was only seven days.

In this manner, the couple passed the winter.

As spring came, Yook family became busy with their annual prayer for abundant harvest. Sooyoung took a big part in this preparation.

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

Sungjae’s mother spent the whole winter sewing praying clothes for the whole family, to prepare for their major praying event.

Every first week of spring, Yook family and their whole legions of servants, guards and employees from all over the kingdom would gather in Hanyang’s biggest temple to pray for abundant harvest.

Sooyoung was busy preparing the food for the praying ceremony and donation afterwards. They would bring 66 kinds of food to the temple, and donate 6 kinds of meals to the poor citizens of the city for 6 days in a row.

The calculating, purchasing, stocking and scheduling to cook everything really drained lots of Sooyoung’s energy.

It was a massive event, one that the whole kingdom always paid attention to. It was a moment when Sooyoung realized, “Ah, I married the only son of Yook family.”

She had been so busy organizing dozens of things and little details, that in the morning of the praying ceremony, she was cold-sweating. It was impossible for her to skip the event, so she only took spoonfuls of honey to sustain herself, hoping it would give her strength.

“You’re trembling” Taeyeon exclaimed as she helped Sooyoung dressed that morning.

“I’m exhausted. I just need this event to pass” she replied, letting Taeyeon dressed her in a resplendent royal blue hanbok, with the symbol of Yook family at the back-- the hangul number six and wreaths of rice around it.

The whole family, servants, guards and employees would then hold a parade to the temple, carrying offerings for Buddha in their hands.

“Just carry something light” Sungjae warned, seeing her carrying a basket full of raw rice mixed with flowers. “I don’t need you to be too tired.”

“This is the lightest offering we prepared”

It was a thirty minutes walk to the temple, in which everyone chanted, “Buddha, please bless our harvest with abundance” all the way.

Sooyoung already felt light-headed ever since she left the gates of Yook House. It was still cool, but the sunlight hurt her eyes. She wasn’t sure why.

The stone staircase climb to the temple exhausted her terribly. She didn’t sleep enough that week, too worried something would go wrong with the preparation.

They all then knelt in front of the biggest Buddha’s statue in the temple, chanting prayers for thirty minutes.

The monks then blessed their offerings by splashing them with water.

Since the beginning of the prayer, the smell of incense brought a headache for Sooyoung. It grew worse and worse until she could barely breathe.

But Sungjae was so serious beside her, praying with all his concentration, and Sooyoung didn’t dare to not pray with him.

Finally, the prayer finished, then they offered lunch for the monks.

More blessings from the monks followed, in which Sooyoung felt her bones suddenly all hurt.

She wiped her sweat so often that Taeyeon came forward to wipe it for her.

“You are unwell” she stated. “I’m calling the physician as soon as we're home.”

“I just need sleep” Sooyoung answered, following Sungjae, his sister, brother in-law and parents out to the temple gates.

The temple was really large, and on that same day, there were many other families who went there to pray. Spring was deemed as the start of new lives, and it was believed that praying would bring good luck for the whole year.

Sungjae was receiving good luck wishes from his six friends who came that day to honour Yook family and prayed with them, when Sooyoung passed a man wearing what looked like really expensive clothes.

All she wanted was to finish the food donation to the poor so she could go home as soon as possible.

But the man that passed her suddenly held her wrist and pulled her around.

“Park Sooyoung-ssi!!!”

He was loud, making lots of people in that area of the wide, open praying space turned at them.

Sooyoung stared at the man as if she was struck by a lightning.

Her face turned deadly pale in a second.

She violently pulled her hand away and staggered back.

Only to be followed by the man, who stepped forward to reach her.

It was Sooyoung’s guards who immediately jumped in front of their young madam.

Sooyoung turned to Sungjae.

He stood there in complete shock, seeing another man touched his wife.

It was a rudeness fit to be settled with a duel to the death.

It was a time when women couldn’t be touched even for an inch by someone who was not her husband or family.

And this man had pulled Sooyoung’s wrist, even trying to reach her further when she already pulled back.

Furious, his six equally shocked friends following behind him, Sungjae walked to his wife.

“Is there a problem, Wife?”

To the further surprise of everyone, Sooyoung took a step back from Sungjae, choking the sentence of “I’ve never sinned against you”, before she ran to the temple entrance and raced down the stone steps.

Taeyeon was the first to run after her Agassi, followed by Yook family’s guards.

With a hard stare at that man, who, as the seconds passed, started to look more familiar, Sungjae also chased Sooyoung.

She was running down the steep stairs of the temple.

And tripped.

Then fell.

Only Taeyeon was there before she crashed to the stone staircase.

The guards also reached for her.

Sungjae was there a second later.

“SOOYOUNG-AH!!! PARK SOOYOUNG!!!” he screamed.

But Sooyoung didn’t move.

She fainted.

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

Sungjae’s mother said she and the rest of them would resume donating food to the poor while Sungjae better went home to take care of Sooyoung.

They all watched what happened earlier, but Madam Im wisely decided to not comment on it.

Extremely worried, Sungjae then brought Sooyoung home, then called a physician to check on her.

After careful checking, the physician declared Madam Park was pregnant.

Sungjae was happy with it. Ecstatic, even. But his elation was mixed with worry for her health and the question of who the man at the temple was.

After making sure Taeyeon already changed Sooyoung’s dress that was wet with her sweat to a clean underdress and that she was well guarded by two other maids, Sungjae called Taeyeon to a sitting room.

“Who’s the man at the temple? And don’t you dare tell me you don’t know. It’s obvious that you do. Spill everything, or I’ll ask the guards to whip you.”

It’s the first time Sungjae saw Taeyeon looking nervous, scared even.

“Malhebwa. Who is he?”

Having no other choice, Taeyeon began speaking.

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

An hour before that.......

Earlier, as Yook family walked as a parade to the temple, a Kim Sowon was standing there and watched them all.

When she saw Sungjae, she exclaimed in a surprise. “Oh? I’ve seen that man before. Who is he?”

The middle aged woman she came to the market with refused to yield any answer. So Sowon asked another woman, a stranger, beside her.

“That’s Yook Sungjae-nim, the heir of Yook rice family business.”

Sowon gasped.

“Why did you never tell me???” she reprimanded the woman beside her.

“Why should I? I know what chaos you’d create if you find out who he is.”

For this Kim Sowon, was the gisaeng that Sungjae sat to watch having an with a slave, in that most expensive gisaeng house in town, before he was married. The middle aged woman beside her was the owner of the gisaeng house.

Kim Sowon had thought Sungjae was really handsome, and hoped that after the “performance”, he would hire her for his personal use, but the request never came, no matter how many days she waited.

“He never visited our gisaeng house before and after that night.”

“Why would he? He’s a respectable gentleman from a respectable upbringing. He was only there that night because his father forced him to.”

“Are you being honest? Did he never ask for me?”

“Never.”

“Well, if he hasn’t, it doesn’t mean he won’t in the future.”

“..........don’t do anything that will jeopardize my business. He’s satisfied with his wife. Don’t disturb him.”

“Even a man who is satisfied with his wife would change his mind once he knows how well I am in bed” Sowon smiled cunningly.

“He’s happily married. Really, don’t do anything sinful.”

Sowon laughed mockingly, “An owner of a gisaeng house speaks of avoiding sin? See the mirror, jebalyo, Madam.”

With that, Sowon watched Sungjae entered the temple side by side with his wife, his hand supporting his wife’s back, as if he was afraid she’d fall any second.

They looked harmonious indeed. Wouldn’t it feel all the better to ruin them?

Sowon locked her eyes with Sungjae’s back until he disappeared into the temple.

“And even a man who is happily married can have a mistress.”

The gisaeng house owner turned to her, already regretting going to the market with her that day. She had a bad feeling something terrible would happen.

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

Author’s Note:

Hello, Dear Readers.

It is time for our couple to face some challenge to test their love for each other.

I hope you can stomach some angst.

I am grateful for the overwhelming increase of interest after the previous chapter, but it’s time for me to test how strong your hearts are.

After all, would there be any life without challenges along the way?

Buckle up for a bumpy ride ahead!

Three important things happened here, and I feel that it’s a lot for a chapter, but I had to put them all here, to advance together as simultaneous plot.

Sowon is a member of Gfriend that performed Hush together with Joy in the gayo daejun. The inspiration to use her as a character here was from there. 

What do you think will happen next?

I’ll look forward to read your speculations.

See you soon!

PS: so tired after teaching 4 classes today, and the next two days will be busy as well.

 Writing this is indeed to entertain myself, but because I sacrifice some rest time for this, it would be great if you can tell me what you think about this story.