Mother eyed greedily at the mountain of jewelry in front of her. The amount she had received for dowry had been beyond her imagination. Rather than thinking of how to distribute them amongst the girls, she could not possibly imagine how she was going to spend all the money which was just a small portion of the carriages of wedding gifts. She had carefully stowed them in the cellar, which was exclusive only for her entrance. That sum of money would be enough for her to spend for 3 lifetimes, well, maybe more than that.

She documented each of the pieces, noting every necklace, rings, diamonds, precious stones there was in the pile. Her bony fingers familiarize their way through the new ivory abacus, adding up number after number until the sum was too great for the abacus to calculate then Mother had to resort to mental calculation. Not even in her dreams would she dare to see the amount she was keeping in her personal possession. She was sure the gods were on her side, for sending Heechul to her. How could she ever not pay more attention to this money tree? If she had knew General Han the frequent visits of General Han had caught the Emperor’s attention to this unattended jewel, she would have at least give some of Hwa Yue’s best robes to him. She prayed to the gods that Heechul did not offend the Emperor (the Prince previously) in any ways.

But however, she thought of it, the only one closest to royalty Heechul had received was General Han. Other than him, Mother had no clue how any of those erted old man could be a Prince. The Emperor looked approximately in his early twenties, handsome and confident. He looked familiar, but not a specific came to Mother. But she had no time to bother with such relentless thoughts. She had to scheme, for any future marriage with the most important family in the country. If the Emperor had any brothers and cousins, he really should get some of them here so Mother could marry them off and get another mass of priceless goods.

A gust of wind shook Mother off her thoughts. “Have I ever told you to knock before you come in?”

“I just come to tell you I’ve returned.” The intruder stared blankly at Mother.

“It’s about time, Kibum, what took you so long?”

“Hyung wanted to talk to me before Wookie led him off to his wedding room.”

Mother gave an irritated grunt and dismissed Kibum to continue her counts of fortune. He went, without saying more. Kibum was never a man of words, especially after his debut, he became quieter than usual. He was always aware, though he had the looks, he never had the voice. However Heechul-hyung had taught him to speak in a gentler tone, Kibum knew his natural rough voice could never achieve the state. He chose to stay quiet during the times when he accompanied his customers, he would always resort to gently smiling at them when they scanned lustfully at his body. He did not have Hyung’s figure, but he definitely had the youth to satisfy most of them.

But that was not the only thing he realized. He began to think he was similar to Heechul-hyung, appearance wise of course, or else why would General Han request for him ever since his friend became Hyung’s regular. How many times had Kibum been on the verge of tears when the name General Han called out was never a syllable near his own? How many times had Kibum’s heart ached when the General just sat on the table and pour cups after cups of strong wine into his mouth? But these did not matter him at all. He had loved the general ever since Heechul-hyung introduced him. It was silly really to fall in love with someone you would never have the slightest chance to have his love in return. But to Kibum, just being the unknown supporter was already the greatest gift he would ever receive from this relationship. He already considered it as a blessing since the first day General Han requested for him. Despite the true motive behind the action, Kibum was contented.

Yes, he really was.

He took his time to return to his room, which was in the far end of the dormitories. The house had given everyone a day off, since the preparation of Heechul hyung’s ceremony as one of the royal concubines really tire everyone out. Now Mother had a mountain of dowry, Kibum was positive they would have more holidays from now on. It was midnight, everyone would be sound asleep in their own quarters. He took his time to appreciate the silence of the usually busy corridors. The simple wooden doors stood quietly next to each other, guarding their tired subject, who might be dreaming fiercely of freedom. The white porcelain glistened under the faint candlelight, such faint glow mystified the place. Heechul hyung once told him if he put candlelight next to the porcelain long enough, the spirits within would be awakened. Kibum had the guts to try it, but he was not sure whether the others could stand the unexpected visitor so the thought slipped away just as how he left Heechul hyung earlier in the evening.

A cool breeze alerted Kibum to his surroundings again, and he realized he had reached an extravagant doorway which was hard for him to be stranger to it. Hyung’s room was empty, the oriental vases and bedspreads had gone along with him as the “wedding accompaniment”. But like a ghost haunting its resting place, the room still dawned hyung’s intimidating presence. The intimidation was like a mother’s embrace to Kibum, though, it was warm, it was caring, it was his hyung’s.

Kibum wondered how his hyung was doing at this moment. Was the emperor kind to him? Did he do all he can to make Heechul feel safe and comfortable to be his concubine? Throughout the ceremony, Hyung had his wedding shawl covering his face,  Kibum could not see the turmoil on his face. But he could feel it, that his hyung was stabbed hard on his heart, that kind of pain when one’s dream was ultimately shattered into pieces. When they had their private talk while Kibum helped out to prepare for Hyung’s wedding night, Hyung had his calm composure like when he was still in the pleasure house, when the whole inner house was all under his complete control. Hyung had manned up for him, he knew that. Every now and then, he would always look far out of the window, searching for the familiar but lost figure of his life. Kibum regretted the fact he never said anything to encourage Heechul hyung in this difficult time, but just to see him off as Wookie led him off for the final preparations in the bedroom.

The newlyweds should be enjoying their first night together right now, and Kibum prayed to the bottom of his innocent heart that his hyung would be in the safe haven he had yearned to be in. The emperor looked kind enough, and exceedingly familiar. But the dining hall was too big, and the emperor was sitting too far away from him, even if he craned his neck, the only detail Kibum could manage to observe was the over-excessively thick eyebrows. Kibum pondered on the thought. The only person who knew with this kind of eyebrow was Choi-gwiha, but the customer looked too modest to have any connection with the royal family.

He shook his head, he must be tired, to have such hyperbolize thoughts. He closed the doors quietly and continued his way to his own room, protecting the feeble candlelight from the midnight breeze.

Some of the marital terms are based on my translation of the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony. My cousin got married two months ago so I still have brief memory to what happened and what goes with the bride and so on. 

Hope you enjoyed it:)

With love,

Jaemin

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