Note 1: Longer one since I've been away :)
Note 2: May or may not have been inspired by Scarlet Heart Ryeo--well historical kdramas.
Note 3: @jackmin157, you suggested Sehun or Suho before. I chose Sehun somehow. This wasn't necessarily planned, I just couldn't picture a YG male for this role. LOL. I hope you don't mind (it's okay there's plenty more opportunities in the future).

001. Drenched
characters: Suhyun, Sehun, (Chanhyuk, Jisoo)
genre: historical au
word count; 1535

Born into an average household, Suhyun rarely got to wear luxurious clothes. She only had one and that was the peach-coloured hanbok that her father gave her for her fifteenth birthday. It was the most elegant material she had ever owned and yet…the robes she had to wear as a Gungnyeo was much finer than that.

First it was amazing, living in the palace as a court lady with all these benefits, but then…it was just sad.

When her parents never returned from their latest missionary trip, Chanhyuk who was studying at the time had no choice, but to ask a family friend with connections to the palace to take her away. It was better this way, for the worse thing that could happen was his little sister being forced into ion, having no household to back her up any longer and their source of income limited. Working in the palace eased his mind better, for he knew that she’d be safe within its walls (as long as she did not commit any treason of some sort).

He was right, but she missed him and her parents dearly. She missed her old life.

Not that this life was so bad. In the expense of her hard work, she had a meal to eat every night and a roof over her head. It was not so terrible…just exhausting.

And what entertainment she had, came from her fellow maid Jisoo, who reported the gossip around the palace. However, the only thing that caught Suhyun’s attention recently was the return of the eldest prince. Everyone said he had come back to take the title of Crown Prince. His return had the whole kingdom buzzing curiously.

“Suhyun, have you finished the load I gave you?” The head court Lady Hong of her department asked when she found the girl.  Suhyun nodded, just returning from the courtyard where she hung the laundry that she had to wash all morning.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. You’re the only one who is free at the moment so come with me.” She said promptly, gesturing the girl to follow her.

Together they sauntered across the palace corridors in a swift strides. It made her slightly nervous, noticing her superior’s posture that was rigid. This made Suhyun anxious, because she was hardly ever called out to do a chore outside their department.

Soon they arrived in the inner palace walls, much to Suhyun’s disbelief.

“You’ll be giving your time to help the Sesugan today. They just need help to gather water for the baths.”

The bathing department? Okay, I can do that.

Suhyun gave no complaint and bowed to Lady Hong once she was dropped off in the bath house. There, the head lady of the bathhouse, Lady Myo greeted her, before immediately ing a wooden pail in her hands. She was to periodically gather water from a large cauldron full of heated water and fill up a bath in the second floor. A tiring chore.

“Yes ma’am.” She bowed with a grimace, as Lady Myo went away to tend to the other girls that were carrying jugs of fragrances and soaps to the other rooms.  

It was dreadful.  

Suhyun trudged up the stairs with the heavy pail full of water in her hands. If she was not worrying herself to death that she might slip and fall, she was fearing that the bucket itself would slip out of her hands! Determinedly, she poured the steaming water into the large bath. She did this over and over again until she decided to take a break, her shoulders screaming in pain