Previously....

‘Why…why do you keep saying that, Soondeok ah, hm?’

‘Because I know it’ll happen. Time changes everything. People change, their feelings change…love changes. As time goes on, you will get tired of me … just like what happened with you and Haesoo-’

‘ENOUGH!!!!!!’

(Eun punches the wall with his fist, it bleeds – but Eun doesn’t care, his heart hurts more than his fist now; their panting echoes around the room.)

--------------------------------------

(Eun’s tears flow down, Soondeok looks away, not wanting to be swayed by the sight of her man crying for her. Eun holds Soondeok’s hand.)

‘Listen to me, darling. If you want to go, I’ll let you go – if that’s what you really want to do.’

(Soondeok tries to hold in her emotions, tries to stop herself from wailing, tries to stop herself from kissing the man she loves)

‘You will?’

‘But know that, you’re not doing it for my sake, you’re sentencing me to death. If you really love me, you’ll stay. If you really love me, you’ll believe in me, believe that I will love you forever. If you really love me, you’ll believe in miracles, just like I do.’

‘Your highness…’

(Eun takes the ring out and puts it back on Soondeok’s finger)

‘Soondeok ah. It’s my fault that you constantly think I’ll cease to love you…because of how I treated you when we first got married…I really am sorry for those times. I promised you haven’t I? That I’ll make up for what I’ve done, please give me a chance to, Deok ah.’

(Eun touches Soondeok’s cheek, wiping away her tears, his blood dripping down from his hand slowly)

‘I know you tend to take the blame on yourself, everything, because you still think you’re the one who killed your mother, I know that, Deok ah…I once blamed myself too for the death of those around me.’

‘No…no, this is getting us nowhere. No, I have to leave, your highness, please, let me go.’

(Soondeok attempts to stand her ground but Eun pulls her back into his embrace)

‘Soondeok ah, let’s not let these things separate us, hm? The tougher the time, the more important it is for us to stay together, Deok ah.’

‘What about Grandpa? He’s-’

‘And you don’t have to worry about grandpa, I’ll deal with him myself, alright? I don’t want you to worry about it, understand?’

‘You don’t understand. Grandpa is-’

‘Like what I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if we have children or not, as long as I’m with you, I’m happy.’

(Eun looks at his wife deep into her eyes)

‘Yet will you say so after 10 years, when all those around you have become fathers? Your relatives…’

‘I don’t live for them, Deok ah – it’s my life, and you your’s, so stop living for others. Before you know how to love another person, you must know how to love yourself first. You’re a kind girl, I’m sure you know what I mean.’

‘I…I…’

‘I love you, Soondeok ah. And it’s my fault that you’re under this pressure now, so let me be that person to share the load with you, honey. Please. I know you don’t want to leave, I know you want to stay. Stay with me, Deok ah. Please…’

‘Oppa…oh yes I do, I do want to stay, I really do.’

(Soondeok sobs as she falls into Eun’s arms, Eun gently pats her on the back)

‘There there, Deok ah, don’t cry now. That’s why we should talk to each other about these things, we’ll solve problems together, okay? Communication makes all the difference, honey. If we have something happy to share about, we’ll multiply the joy by two. If we have something sad to share about, we’ll divide the sadness by two, Deok ah.’

‘Your highness…I’m scared…I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake…I’m afraid I’m making a wrong decision…’

‘Who says we can’t? My love, everyone makes mistakes, no one’s perfect. After all, we only get to live our life once – it’s everybody’s first time, you can’t expect us to be an expert at it. Just think about me learning archery! Look how long it took me to hold the bow right!’

(Soondeok chuckled a bit, Eun smiled too, knowing that Soondeok has changed her mind. He brushes Soondeok’s hair to a side. His eyebrow twitched.)

‘Deok ah. You look y right now, you know that?’

(Soondeok looks at herself)

‘I’m dripping wet from head to toe, Oppa…it’s all your fault.’

(Eun kisses Soondeok like there’s no tomorrow)

‘Well, honey, you made me.’

‘Still…you should’ve at least brought an umbrella or something…don’t you know how to be romantic?’

‘Romantic? Calling you “baby” in front of all those people is not romantic enough?’

‘Aigoo…Oppa…now that you remind me…gosh, how embarrassing! I’m never leaving this house again.’

‘You better not! I swear, if you dare leave me again, I’ll keep calling you baby until everyone in the city hears it.’

(Soondeok laughs. Eun sighs.)

‘Soondeok, my love, don’t you think about leaving me again, understand?’

(Soondeok nods)

‘Oppa…you won’t leave me either, right?’

‘Of course not.’

(Soondeok kisses Eun which caught him by surprise, she places her hand upon his warm chest while Eun runs his hand down his wife’s back)

‘I thought I would never kiss you again…Oppa…’

‘You fool…no wonder why you responded so well this afternoon! You probably thought it was our last kiss, didn’t you? Stupid girl…’

‘So… you really won’t marry anyone else? I mean…you and Yuju looked well together and-’

(Eun stops Soondeok from talking, he kisses her long, interlocking his fingers with Soondeok’s, pushing her against the wall, feeling her body with his, rubbing his thigh upon his wife’s)

‘Park Soondeok, listen well, every time you bring up the topic of me getting a second wife, I’ll have to punish you once.’

‘Punish? How?’

‘I’ll have to exercise with you on bed once~’

‘Hm? What…what does that mean? Sit up? Push up?’

‘You’ll see.’

‘Still…are you really not going to? You won’t regret it? I mean, she is pretty…I’m sure she’ll be able to give you heaps of kids. And her family is -’

(Eun places his hand on Soondeok’s tummy, Soondeok blushes)

‘In here, you will carry our precious baby, Deok ah.’

‘O…Oppa…’

‘Honey, if I must sleep with a woman, that woman will be you, and ONLY you. If I do have a child, that child will be from you, and ONLY you. If my child is to call anyone “mother”, that person will be you, ONLY you. Got it?’

(Soondeok brushes Eun’s hand away, embarrassed)

‘Okay I get it…’

‘Uh? You brushed me away? You had the guts to do that to me after what you’ve done?’

‘It’s not that…it’s just…’

‘Why? Shy? What do you have to be shy about?’

(Eun touches Soondeok’s tummy again, pressing it harder. Soondeok pushes his hand away)

‘Oppa~ Oh my! What happened to your hand?! Gosh, the wall…just then. Oh dear me, we need to get you treated fast, Oppa!’

‘Ayy, it’s okay. This is nothing, it’s just a scratch.’

‘It…doesn’t look like a scratch…I’ll fetch some gauze for you.’

‘We’ll do that later, right now we have something more important to do first.’

‘What?’

(Eun pulls Soondeok to himself and whispers seductively to her ear)

‘Deok ah~ Now that you’re here and you don’t have to go to any stupid party no more… what say we go straight to bed and…uh-huh uh-huh?’

‘And what?’

‘Make something.’

‘Make what?’

‘Well, what do you think? Have you forgotten what we’ve agreed on already?’

‘What did we agree on?’

(Soondeok thinks hard, Eun starts to get jumpy – soon, he’ll be able to make Soondeok into his woman, at long last)

‘Think about my conversation with grandpa today~ We have a mission to complete~’

(Soondeok thinks hard)

‘Ah! Oppa! By the way, what’s a “”? You said to grandpa that I’m still…what…a …what’s that? Is it a type of vinegar? Wait…why would you say I’m a vinegar-’

(Eun smirks as he pushes Soondeok against the wall, getting ready to undress his beloved wife)

‘You don’t need to know what a is, Deok ah, because tonight will be the last night you can call yourself that anyway.’

..............to be continued

[Note from author: today marks the 1st anniversary of Eundeok's death.....time flies...I can't believe it's been one year already...]