Min ho was sitting on the bed while his newly wed wife was sleeping next to him.. with an innocent face which would make his heart skip a beat or two while every time he would see her.. .For min ho , nothing was bigger than the fact that at least she was here today , at least he was able fulfill his unsaid promise to her unlike the gone..

Earlier that day

As they left the sea earlier , the first place Min ho took her was the main shrine of the city to take blessing from the almighty for their new life together. as both of them didnot had family they sought blessings from the priests there. As he returned home his only family which was his teacher and aunt greeted him and accepted Shin hye with the open heart , as she knew the whole story behind the girl very well.

"yah min ho yah , you married her without any ceremonies and traditions !!!" his aunt shrieked at him after knowing the whole story , flinching Shin hye a bit from fear while for Min ho because of the ear-splitting noise.

"Gomo..stop shouting, will you? my ears are going to split in one of these days .."Min ho said while patting his ears to get rid of the painful feeling in it"and about the wedding ,  I donot want any commotion there by those "so-called noblemen" etc"

His aunt slapped his head with a strong blow , which again startled both of them..

"AHHHh..gomo .. it hurts."Min ho whined like a child and shin hye suppressed a chuckle.

"You will get one more from me .. if you argued with me on the marriage .. after you are my only family member and magistrate of this town , you are bringing a legal wife to your household not a runaway bride that you cannot show to the world .. it calls for a proper occasion ..understood !!"she said with a voice laced with strictness

"Fine if she is comfortable with it then me too ."saying this he pointed towards shin hye who was still struck by there way of banterring

"Y..yes, if you find it fine so " she answered stuttering.

"see, she also finds it ok .. now happy ??"mi kyung asked him and he let out a heavy nod at her words, saying this she left them alone.

"Shin hye you must be ~~" but as soon as he was about to talk to shin hye , his aunt returned and interuppted him

"ahh sorry I forgot earlier ...shin hye dear .. you need to come with me .." she said with a sweet smile while for  Min ho it was unpredictable

"gomo ..where are you taking her ?"

"Away from you,"she said in a straightforward way which startled both of them.

"what ...what, what are you saying gomo"

"what what ? you cannot see your bride till your marriage according to tradition."she said as his mouth hung low

While she took Shin hye with her to the room ,Shin hye could only look back in pity and Min ho could only protest on the fact new fact he came to know today"what kind of tradition is that gomo !!!!  a man is not even allowed to meet his wife in this country , why so corrupt ~~"he shouted facing the room where she took Shin hye when a shoe was hurled towards him by his aunt which met its aim of his forehead without any mistakes .."Aishhh...appoo gomo !!~~"he said whining

At night Min ho was standing alone on the balcony of his house , drowned deep in thoughts, when his aunt came in..

"What happened Min hoyah..are you still troubled by something.."

'nothing gomo ..I am ..ok ...there is just some kind of anxiety in my heart, a shred of fear or something unknown still left there, making me restless"

His aunt sighed "is it about your marriage?"

"maybe or maybe not ..I don't know about it ....but now that you are talking about it .. then why are you so adamant on that ?'

"because of its all about mentality of people..~!"

"what does that mean ?"

"Min hoyah . you have brought her out of  that house , but still according to people , she belongs to that world  because she was claimed and advertised as one of them"  hearing this he grew attentive "marriage is not only held to complete a tradition and name people as husband and wife but it is way of telling people that these two people have chosen each other as theirs and now nobody has the right to  come in between them and argue on that point , if , for any reason this marriage would not take place , it can have two consequences ...first people will still think that you are somehow ashamed or timid when it comes to her case in showing her as your wife publicy which will lead to the second point which is of public attention towards her..... lets be realistic min ho , shin hye cannot live in this house locked up , she will have to someday go out in that world , who once saw her as a gisaeng..and is treating the same at that time   too.. as a public property.. where anyone can look into her eye and name her colorful names like , etc and can gossip about her with groundless rumors of sleeping with other men and what not..this...Min hoyah this marriage will give her confidence , confidence of being your wife , of being taken by someone with full traditions in front of whole town.. she will have the confidence in herself of not looking down on her when you will show your confidence in her, also this marriage will be a lock on the mouths of people who are looking for ways to steal her from you , also min ho dont forget about shin hyeyah ..she would also have some wishes of her marriage ..min hoyah she didnot had her parents but i can see in her eyes , her wish to live once free from that web was always alive, like every girl she must have also seen some dreams about her wedding , lets completethem too"she explained to him , while stood their with a stanc face ..

"how can be world so cruel gomo..?" he asked innocently when remembered the scars given by society to his loved ones...

"Minho yah , you must have mastered the art of fighting, but this world is more complicated my child ..they a change there color faster than chameleons.. you are still very innocent for it and you have learned a lot about it before I die.."She said with a slight smile

"Gomo .. why are you saying that."he again whined

"then what..do you expect me to leave that child in hands of this whining magistrate.. grow up min ho "she said with the fake strictness which shut his mouth .

"btw till when are you planning to stand here,  you should sleep more.."

"has shin hye slept ?"

"yes she has .. and i too am going to sleep ... you should go soon too..jal ja"he nodded as his aunt left the place yawning and murmuring about how old has she grown to have her body aching.

He was still thinking about her and their moments of beach , when shin hye excepted his heart, when she cried his eyes out, when she fell in his embrace , when she got hurt from a piece of pottery ...he jolted as soon as  he remembered about shin hye being hurt on the beach..thinking of this he cannot stop himself and barged her room with utmost silence..he came with his antiseptics and sat on near her feets ..as he touched her feet Shin hye sprang up from her light zizz  and was about to shout but was prevented as  min ho kept his hand on on time 

'Its me ..min ho "he whispered while taking his hand off

"YOU !!"she said loudly , as she realised she lowered her voice "what are you doing here min ho ssi, you should not be here..."she once again started rambling when he has to again  keep shut with his hands

"stop panicking shin hye.. gomo has gone to sleep and i am here just to aid your wound which i am pretty sure neither you have done yourself nor told about it to my aunt .."this made shut as he was right word by word and she has completely forgotten about it in the marriage fiasco.

Min ho sighed hopelessly and sat again to treat her wound while Shin hye sat back...as he finished treating her wound, he found her head swinging in the air due to sleep. A soundless chuckle left his mouth as he moved forward to lay her down comfortably .

Greed took better of him and he too sat there beside her, admiring her face with utter proud and love, as she mumbled something in her sleep and changed her position a little bit

"While he just adjusts himself and laid down beside her to get a better view of her face.." who cares ..we are already married " was his thought.

As he was watching her asleep, he remembered that their wedding was fixed after one day in lunar calender..he slowly drowned in the thoughts, which made the first bridge towards her, the incidents which changed his life in both good and bad ways...

The year of 1592..the capital of Joseon - Hanseong

It was the departing weather of monsoon which was now leaving behind a slight chunk of cold which was pleasant but also was sending shivers at times , when a carriage entered the borders of  Hanseong  followed by three horsemen...The carriage  was shelter to a 14 year old boy who was sleeping peacefully and his mother who was expecting and was in her last month of pregnancy. Whereas the horsemen consisted of two guards while the left one was better half of the lady and father to the children inside..

The lady opened the door of the carriage as soon as they entered the capital to see the lush and rich landscapes and greenery of the capital while the gush of wind from the door of the carriage disturbed the zizz of the little boy who was now fully attentive towards his mother .

"Ommeoni..are you all right ..do you need anything...or are you feeling sick??" he asked in a slightly worried voice as his mother smiled at the young boy's concerns for her ..

"aww..from when my small child grew so mature .."his mother asked him while her son pouted at her words.

"Ommeoni..I am a grown up ..and I have to behave like a mature and strong man now as for my sister is coming ..and I need to protect her too"he explained with a determined expression.

His father who was now riding beside the carriage due to Min ho's panic-stricken voice, as he thought that his wife would be in pain or trouble, was now smiling at his son's words which depicted both childishness and seriousness "then young man .. can i ask you , why you declined to ride and travel horse with me?" he said in a teasing voice while both of the parents knew that he declined due to the chilly weather outside .

He looked at his mother dumbfounded by the question while his mother tried hard to not to laugh at his innocent face and maintain the facade of her concentrated face for his answer "i...I wanted to stay with ommeoni ..to accompany her , in case she feels uneasy or pain and what if my sister needed me, I need to with her always..'he answered 

Listening him both of them laughed at his cute and modest answer, while his father still was amazed by his tactics as always.."aww ..my son is really a grown-up cute boy.."she said while squeezing him into a cute hug"but, min hoyah..why are you so sure about a sister, what if there is a baby brother this time.."his mother asked him while raising her eyebrows..

"no..I am sure that there will be baby sister send to me by god...I even kept fast while going to the hill temple in our town as our ajhumma told me"listening to this both of the parents were dumbstruck as this was news to them.The maid who used to work for them earlier once told him the story by making up facts, so that it could quench his baby curiosity, but who knew that he would really carry out the fast and travel to the hilltop temple for wishing a baby sister..listening to this his parents could only smile.

"Ahhh..."his mother painful wail made them both attentive and before she could say anything ...her husband made the carriage stop while Min ho's first instinctive was to hold his mother's hand in a tight grip.

"Ji hee yah.."her husband called her as he knelt down to her level"are you alright..are you in pain...i told you earlier to not travel such a big distance..we could have came here after your delivery" he incoherently blabbered  while his wife was seeing him an unbelievable expression."

"YEOBO !! " she said loudly to gain his attention "i am absolutely fine ...why are you worrying yourself over nothing.?"

"but you just.." he continued but was interrupted by her.

"it was just the pain because of baby kicking ..nothing more.."she said with a calm voice to her husband .

As both her son and husband were rested assured that she is safe and sound, they resumed their journey to the center of the city....

As they reached the center of the city , their first stop was the government office for which Min ho's father worked as inspector..the officer present there marked him on duty and gave them the possession of their new house which was provided to them by the government itself.

The house was big and spacious itself..much to Min ho's liking he walked around the place to look himself  and find a suitable space for his sister, for where she would sleep, her playing ground, her study etc..the arrival of his baby sister was an adrenaline rush to him, from the moment he came to know that his mother was expecting a child.. this new changed him drastically in a way much to his parents amazement..normally kids of his age around him were reluctant of having a baby sibling because this will distribute their  parent's love for them... while Min ho was quite far away from this childishness, he grew more conscious towards his mother  and sometimes more paranoid towards her  than his father would be.

As time flew by , they were fully settled in their new house while the last month of pregnancy of Lee ji hee was also almost about to finish..this was the time which got on everyone's nerve...Min ho and his father were both anxious to infinity while his mother was trying hard to not to give herself to her mood swings and burst on each person who comes in front of her...all in al in was a hard time for all of them where on one side they excited on the arrival of the new born into their family , and on another side they were fearful for any complications with the mother's or child's birth.

Min ho was still adamant on the fact that he wanted a little sister and he was doing every single thing a 14 year child can do for accomplishment of his will , he every day visited the monastery for praying Buddha for well being of his mother and  the unborn child , his routine also included  visiting the nearby doctor every day for daily dose of supplements and medicines recommended for his mother.. his parents never understood his obsession with having a sister but they would secretly admire his sweet actions and gestures that he would do for his family at times..

"I am hundred percent sure, our son will be a great and loving husband as well as a father." his mother said while keeping her head on her husband's shoulder, as she saw her son who was carrying a large bucket of tangerines as she had a sudden urge of eating them.

"more good than me ? "her husband asked 

"yes ..more than you ..i know he will not leave his wife alone even for one minute when she would be expecting even for one minute unlike certain someone who finds his work more interesting than his pregnant wife"she said in sarcasm and in a bit pissed off tone ..

Her husband  understood very well that her mood swings are back and saying something right now would be like offering yourself to a lioness, so being an intelligent person he chose to shut his mouth and apologise without any excuses and explanation to placate the ready to burst volcano in front of him..but it was true that despite of his wishes to accompany his wife, he was not able to do that  because of his newly transferred job which engaged him for whole day in his paperwork and he being a punctual and honest person could not deny or postpone his work..thus adding one more task in min ho's list - to drag his father home to save him from both overtime and his mother's hormonal wrath.

It was like a regular day for a Min ho when he was passing by the street after getting the necessary medicines for his mother from the doctor, when he saw some one for the first time and that moment wa