Wrapping her hands around the hoe, Minju started weeding out the garden, moving surely, and leaving any other uncharitable thoughts out of her mind. It was better this way.

It had been 5 days since she saw Chaewon run to the forest, and it had been one of the most stressful times of her life.

Having returned at first with a heavy heart, she had been ambushed by her parents, who questioned her well-being. When Minju told them the story, her mother had said that it was better to let Chaewon go. The thing is, Minju didn’t want to.

It’s true, she still had two years before her 24^th birthday, and she could still find somebody else. But Chaewon wasn’t just about any person.

She didn’t understand how, but she had become so attached to the older woman in such a short span she could barely believe it herself. There was something that made her feel almost immediately comfortable. Maybe the openness with which she was received. Chaewon, despite her own difficulties, had hidden nothing from her, freely speaking about the bad things in her life. It was natural for Minju to feel the desire to have her know everything about her.

Except one thing.

“Minju! Minju!” his dad was running towards her, full speed. “Chaewon is here!”

“Really?” Minju exclaimed, feeling relief at Chaewon’s kept promise to come back. “I told you dad! I told you she would come back!” she ran towards the house, having left the hoe on the ground.

Composing herself just before she entered her parents’ home, she took a deep breath before entering.

“Chaewon! You are here! Are you okay?” Minju said without taking a pause. Chaewon cracked a small smile, standing up from one of the kitchen chairs.

“I’m as good as new,” she said, twirling for a moment, surprising Minju in how carefree, borderline playful her behavior was. However, she frowned when she looked at Chaewon’s bandaged stump.

“What happened to your leg?”

“I’m not supposed to run in this thing, so...” Chaewon patted her wooden leg. She straightened up, her features becoming deceptively serene. “I think we need to talk.”

“We do,” Minju answered nervously, turning to look at her mom, who had silently watched over them during their talk. “Could you leave us for a moment?”

“But... what if...?”

“If I wanted to kill your daughter, I would have done that five days ago,” Chaewon declared in a monotone, as if she expected the doubt. It made Minju feel sad.

“Go, mom. We’ll be fine.” Minju smiled at her mother, gesturing for her to leave. After a moment of hesitation, Minju’s mom left the house, but would probably linger outside the door to check on Minju.

“In the army, there were some mages who would often use transfiguration to immobilize people. Is this something like your condition?” Chaewon asked right after her mother left.

“More or less.” Minju took a deep breath. “Do you remember when I told you about my grandparents and their end?” Chaewon nodded. “I mean, that happened, but... there was something else. I-I’m not sure about the details, because we were told this by one of the survivors, but my grandparents fought against the druids as much as they could. My grandmother managed to severely injure someone... a very powerful mage who put a spell on all of us.”

“Your parents too?”

“Just my mom. The curse is only through blood.” Chaewon nodded, turning her head to face the window.

“The spell has me and my mom turning into beasts as the night appears. I can’t eat vegetables, nor eat grains... only meat.” Chaewon didn’t answer, so Minju, scared at the unchanging expression on Chaewon’s face, asked, “Are you afraid?

“You could have killed half of that party in just one blow. You ran away instead. I know you are not evil,” Chaewon answered, leaving both of them in a suffocating silence. Minju didn’t say anything, as she could see Chaewon was fighting with herself, probably trying to put her thoughts in order.

“Did you know how I really felt when I finally sent you home?” she asked quietly. “I felt pathetic. I felt so pathetic for protecting someone who didn’t care about me.”

“You aren’t pathetic,” Minju rebutted, but Chaewon disregarded her words.

“And then, I felt anger. I felt that, maybe, you had only accepted me because you knew no one else would want me, so I would just accept whatever you threw at me.” Chaewon took frowned, as if she was remembering. “And then, I felt longing.” Minju’s heart filled with hope. “I longed to see you smile, instead of hearing you cry for me.” Chaewon turned to finally look at Minju. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you wait so long to even think about telling me?”

Minju turned to look at her quivering hands. It took her a moment to gain courage. “I-do you know how does it feel to become a beast? Do you know how I felt when one night I turned into a hideous beast?” she sniffed. “I was at the pier when that happened, and we were chased out of Port Novello immediately.” Minju didn’t think she could ever forget that night. “I didn’t even know what was happening to me, and I had to leave everything I’d ever known.”

“From then on, we had no one except Mr Rokus and each other. We have no friends, no one who would help us.” Minju’s eyes filled with tears, her voice wavering at the end. “Do you know how many times I wished to have someone who I could talk to? Someone I could trust with anything? Do you know how many times I wished I could freely travel with Mr Rokus? Do you know how many times I wished to be... just Minju?”

“When the matchmaker came, all I wanted was someone who could love me, condition and all... But when I met you, I just... I didn’t want my whole life to be dictated by what I am. I wanted, even if for a fleeting moment, to be just you and me, and nothing else.” She had the urge to look at Chaewon, but at the same time she felt ashamed of the whimpers coming out of . “I’m so sorry, Chaewon. I never wanted to make you feel like this. I was only thinking about myself, and I didn’t think about how this would affect you,” Minju sobbed. For a moment, the only sound in the house were her cries.

“Come here.” And she was engulfed in a warm hug. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I wish I knew how to make you feel better.”

You already are, Minju thought as she cried in Chaewon’s arms.

“Sorry for wetting your clothes,” Minju apologized when her sobs subsided.

“It’s okay.” Chaewon soothed, patting her back, slightly. They finally broke the embrace.

“Are we... Is the wedding still on?” Minju asked, hating to break the warm atmosphere, but needing the answer more than ever. Chaewon’s face hardened at the question, making Minju fear the worst.

“Even though I understand your reasons for not telling me, I would’ve appreciated being trusted in the same way I trusted you. I can’t forget you hid something like this from me.” Chaewon turned to look at the door, probably aware of Minju’s mom at the end of it. “I have a condition.”

“Tell me.”

“I want you to come live with me to Lovac for the next two months.”

Minju’s eyes grew like saucers. “What?”

“I know you don’t quite like the city, but I don’t want more secrets between us. And, to be honest, I want to be in a place that I feel comfortable in. If, by the end of those two months, there are no serious secrets between us, then let’s get married.”

Minju gaped for a moment, not having expected that at all. “I-Oh-Okay,” she agreed easily.

“Really?” Chaewon asked, surprised. “You’re not going to discuss it with your parents?”

“I don’t need permission from my parents,” Minju said quietly, hoping her mother didn’t hear her.

“Well, I’d still like it if you took a moment to think about it. Talk it out with your parents, your chickens, whoever needs to be talked to, and then send me a letter. I’ll come to pick you up.”

“You don’t have to go. If I have to have this talk, it would, at most, take me a day.” Chaewon seemed hesitant.

“I’ll stay at an inn close to Cauley and come back on Friday.” Minju could see that Chaewon was avoiding to stay here at all costs, and it made Minju feel hurt. Could this really work? Could they really work if Chaewon distrusted her this much?

“I... Could you do something for me before you go?” Minju asked hesitantly, wanting to test Chaewon. She didn’t want to agree to something if their relationship was not salvageable.

 “Could you speak with my parents?” Chaewon stuttered at the petition. “Please, listen to them as you have me.”

“Okay,” Chaewon said after a moment, but her expression looked troubled. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” Minju smiled sadly.

“Do you want me to speak to them now?” Chaewon asked awkwardly. After all, her previous interaction with Minju’s mom wasn’t nice.

“If you want to.” Chaewon nodded and walked towards the door. When the door opened, Minju’s mom, predictably almost fell, as she was most likely, by leaning against the door.

“Mom, could you bring dad? Chaewon would like to speak with you.” Chaewon grumbled a little, but seemed to understand that it was necessary. Her mom turned to look at Chaewon, then Minju.

“Sure,” she said, having seen Minju’s pleading expression. “I’ll bring him in a moment.”

After a moment, Chaewon and her parents were sitting on opposite sides of the kitchen table. Minju stood up in front of the furnace, hoping to be a passive person in the conversation.

“I’m sorry for what I told you earlier,” Chaewon started by apologizing to Minju’s mom. “I know you worry about your daughter, and I guess... given what happened, I can see why you would feel the way you felt.”

Her mother looked shocked at the apology. “It’s alright. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions so soon. As far as Minnie told us, you do sound like a nice person. Moreover, I know this was just sprung to you out of nowhere. You’re reaction was normal.”

“I’d say she reacted better than the most people,” Minju’s father interjected. “Do you still want to marry our daughter?”

“I’m unsure. Is there anything else I should know about you?”

“If Minju has filled you in with the story, then I think not. Aside from my family’s condition, we are just plain farmers. What you see is what you get.” Chaewon nodded.

“Have you ever tried investigating how to take this curse away?”

“We don’t even know where to begin. We have never interacted with many mages before, so we have no idea where to look.”

“Do you know what exact curse was placed upon you?”

“No, what we do know is from tales of survivors to the Shadow Druid incident.” Chaewon nodded.

“A few moments ago, when I was speaking with Minju, I told her that I had a condition if we were to marry, which she can refuse if she wants to. I want her to come live with me to Lovac for two months.”

“What?! That’s preposterous!” Minju’s mom exclaimed.

“Mom, listen to what she has to say,” Minju chastised, which made Minju’s mom give a little glare to Minju, but made her be quiet nonetheless.

“I know, given what happened, this whole thing seems like a gamble from both sides, but, if Minju wants to, I want to give this a try again,” Chaewon continued.

“If you can’t trust us, and my wife can’t trust you, why do you want to try?” Minju’s dad asked in genuine curiosity.

Chaewon lowered her head, as if it was difficult to answer. “I’m a difficult person. Grumpy, irritable, stubborn. It’s not easy for me to talk about... emotional things, but I connected with Minju in a way I haven’t connected with anyone. I don’t how or why, but I just... I felt, since we first met, this feeling of ease, of comfort, of peace when I’m around her. I don’t want to lose her.”

Minju felt a big urge to hug Chaewon, damned be her mother’s opposition, but she forced herself to stay put, knowing that her mother could only be convinced of this if Chaewon herself spoke to her.

Minju’s mom was quiet for moment, as if she was stunned to silence by Chaewon’s words. After a moment, she said, “Please, take care of our Minju.”

Chaewon raised her head. “I wouldn’t dream otherwise.” It made Minju smile from ear to ear.

“When are you leaving?” Minju’s dad asked.

“You’re not going to ask your daughter if she wants to go?” Chaewon raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I know she really wants to go. Did she tell you how she fared these past few days?” he said teasingly.

“Dad!” Minju whined, not wanting Chaewon to know this.

“No, she didn’t,” Chaewon denied, looking at Minju’s dad with interest.

“The poor girl was just moping all around the place. Once I found her leaning on one of the cows, bucket of milk in hand, looking at the door like it was the love of her life.”

“Dad!” Minju covered her face with her hands, wishing her father had kept this to himself.

“How about when Minnie stared at the window and zoned out for so long that her meal went cold?” her mom said teasingly.

“Mom...” Chaewon laughed.

“I’ll have you know I wasn’t any better. I almost fell into a pit once because I was too absorbed in my own thoughts.”

“Really?” her mom asked in disbelief.

And, just like that, the ice broke between Chaewon and Minju’s parents, as the conversation between all of them started flowing (sometimes at the expense of Chaewon and Minju), to the point that they stopped only after the sun started setting in.

Maybe things would be okay.

Hope you enjoy this one c:

If you want to talk with me in twitter, I'm @Beks7412. Any feedback is welcome