TM | Chapter 17

When a marriage talk was brought up in the family, there was no way for me to escape. I had no power, and if that guy convinced my family… No, there wasn’t even anything to convince. Who in my family would oppose it? If he made up his mind, everything would proceed smoothly, just like that.

Annoyed, my lips jutted out, and my brow furrowed. Lee Seol glanced at me and cautiously asked,

“Should I not be honest?”

“…No.”

Rather than being caught off guard later, it was better to hear it straight, even if it flipped my stomach now. At least it wouldn’t be like getting sucker-punched by Kang Taegwon out of nowhere.

The only reason I’d been able to maintain a friendship with this guy for so long was that he had always been honest with me.

Of course, the problem was that… no, not just sometimes—he was always excessively honest. But by now, I’d gotten used to it, so I just learned to roll with it.

“Honesty… it’s fine. I know you always speak and act sincerely. There’s no room for misunderstandings… I like that about you.”

“Thanks, Sung-ah.”

“…”

“Maybe that’s why I ended up keeping you in my heart. Because I don’t have to hide anything from you.”

“…I see.”

I sighed lightly as I replied, and Lee Seol smiled.

Yoon Sung, who had been fidgeting with his fingers and glancing over at us, hesitated before carefully speaking.

“…Can’t we just go home?”

“Are you abandoning me?”

“…”

Lee Seol’s question left my mind blank for a moment. I had delayed sleeping with him until I was ready, but we were already engaged and had spent the night together in front of our friends. Wouldn’t it be a bit strange to go home now…?

But on the other hand, the thought of spending the whole night with him made my blood pressure spike.

I sneaked a glance at Lee Seol. His lips were slightly downturned as he looked at me anxiously.

This was my doing.

I hadn’t said a single word on the way to the room. No, I had even clung to him in front of everyone, making a show of leaning into his arms because Kang Taegwon was watching.

Guilt welled up in my chest, making it hard to breathe.

I was his friend, but to him, I was his lover.

“Uh… Let’s sleep. I mean, actually sleep. You know, the kind where you close your eyes at night and rest?”

“Yeah! I’ll just hold your hand and sleep.”

“Uh, yeah… sure…”

When he nodded so naturally and smiled brightly, I felt like I was the weird one for over-explaining.

Feeling awkward, I fidgeted with my fingers when suddenly, Lee Seol untied his garment strings.

Startled by the sight of him undressing, Yoon Sung instinctively leaned back. But as Lee Seol continued moving, Yoon Sung hesitated before crawling closer, drawn by curiosity.

Lee Seol pulled out two short swords, each about the length of a hand and a half, from his waistband. The weapons had rings on the handles, just big enough for two fingers to fit through.

It was fascinating how he had hidden them on his body.

As I craned my neck to get a better look, he loosened a leather strap from his thigh, revealing several small daggers lodged in it. As I counted the number of throwing knives, he untied another band wrapped around his waist. The moment I caught a glimpse of the hidden shuriken inside, I let out an incredulous sigh.

“…Why are you carrying so much?”

“I have to protect myself.”

“Who’s even trying to hurt you?”

“They’d try to assault me.”

“…Like hell they’d succeed.”

“Well, yeah. But leaving those kinds of guys alive just causes more trouble later.”

“…….”

Yoon Sung silently helped him undress. By now, he was used to it, but at first, it had felt strange that Lee Seol carried weapons hidden on his body. Given his striking beauty, Yoon Sung had initially assumed he was simply learning self-defense to protect himself. 

But even his cousin, Cheongrok, had learned how to handle daggers and poison. The fact that no one around them seemed to know about it had been puzzling.

One day, only Cheongrok had shown up at the spot they were supposed to meet. Since the two of them were always together, it was strange seeing him alone. Cheongrok had been fuming, complaining that he couldn’t find Lee Seol anywhere.

When Lee Clan blood mixed in, the result was always exceptional beauty. Since Cheongrok’s mother was from the Lee Clan, he had an undeniably pretty face, but his eyes—thin and sharply slanted, inherited from his father—gave him a distinct look. 

Normally, when he laughed or played around, he looked mischievous. But when he got angry like this, his fierce glare could be downright chilling.

“That bastard Seol. He’s definitely screwing with me on purpose.”

His teeth ground together so hard that an audible crunch came from his jaw. The way he muttered those words under his breath sent chills down Yoon Sung’s spine, making him widen his eyes in curiosity.

”…What’s wrong?”

It wasn’t unusual for those two to bicker, so Yoon Sung had asked casually, expecting another round of complaints.

“That bastard keeps avoiding me.”

”…”

“Fine. Let him do it alone. I’m quitting too.”

“Quitting what?”

The question came from genuine curiosity. Yoon Sung had assumed they were either working on something together or studying in secret.

Cheongrok stared at him for a moment, pressing his lips into a thin line as if debating something. Then, after a long pause, he finally muttered:

”…Physical training.”

“Why are you guys doing so much of that? You too… Are you planning to take the military exam?”

Everyone knew that Cheongrok was skilled with the sword, but no one realized just how exceptional he was. The fact that the two of them were training so excessively seemed strange, making Yoon Sung tilt his head in confusion. Cheongrok smirked at his reaction.

“No.”

“Then why not just do a reasonable amount and ask for a bodyguard?”

”…Seol already has a bodyguard.”

“Really? Then why don’t they follow him around?”

”…Why do you think Seol walks around without a guard? If anything happens to him, the entire town would be turned upside down. Not just the town—people from the palace would get involved too.”

”…But he doesn’t have one.”

Except for when he was very young, Yoon Sung had never seen Lee Seol accompanied by a bodyguard. At some point, he had started hanging around Cheongrok instead. Since both of them were skilled in martial arts, it never seemed necessary for him to have a guard.

At his response, Cheongrok’s slanted eyes curved into a smirk, and he reached out to ruffle Yoon Sung’s hair.

“That’s what I’m saying. That bastard doesn’t need a bodyguard.”

Yoon Sung blinked in confusion, unable to grasp the meaning behind his words.

“Once you enter the palace, concubines aren’t the only enemies.”

”…”

“Why do you think so many Lee Clan members enter the palace? Because they’re beautiful?”

”…”

“When you train, you have to practice what you’ve learned. But who do you think cleans up the aftermath?”

Cheongrok’s words became more cryptic, and Yoon Sung could only stare at him, completely lost.

“Seol isn’t just my cousin or my friend.”

The moment Cheongrok finished speaking, Lee Seol appeared.

He was smiling as usual, but the moment his gaze landed on Cheongrok, his expression turned sour.

“Disqualified.”

What followed, of course, was a sword fight.

Cheongrok, visibly enraged, swung his sword wildly, while Lee Seol, veins popping in his forehead, blocked every strike with just as much intensity.

“Someone’s coming!”

Spotting a woman entering from the end of the street, Yoon Sung hurriedly called out in a hushed voice. Immediately, Lee Seol threw his sword behind Cheongrok, then crouched down and began writing letters in the dirt with a tree branch.

Cheongrok, acting as if nothing had happened, smoothly picked up the sword. The dazzling movements from moments ago were gone, replaced by slow, deliberate swings as he let out enthusiastic “Hyap! Hyap!” sounds, pretending to practice basic sword forms.

Over time, Yoon Sung had naturally come to understand that Cheongrok was Lee Seol’s bodyguard.

But he had never actually seen him do anything particularly bodyguard-like.

At the time, I didn’t know why I did it, but when I saw the handle of a dagger tied to Lee Seol’s ankle, I instinctively covered it with my robe.

Even now, I wasn’t sure why, but I gathered all the weapons he had taken off and tucked them under the blanket.

For some reason, he had layered his clothes excessively. He was even wearing two outer robes on top of each other. When he took off his cream-colored robe, underneath was another cream-colored garment adorned with scattered red and black floral patterns. On top of that, he had wrapped his waist with an additional cloth.

“Aren’t you hot?”

“If something gets on my clothes, I have to throw the outer robe away.”

”…What are you talking about?”

“This floral pattern doesn’t show bloodstains.”

What kind of life did he lead that he needed to dress for situations where blood splattering was a concern? I let out a long sigh. Why did he live like this?

“Then just wear colored robes.”

“Sung-i, you like seeing me in white clothes, don’t you?”

Lee Seol smiled, locking eyes with me.

White clothes. Right… white clothes.

He really did look good in cream or white silk robes. His very presence was so ethereal that people even called him a seonin.

When he wore pale colors, his beauty seemed to dissolve into the fabric itself, making him even more mesmerizing. I often found myself staring absentmindedly at him whenever he dressed like that.

Even earlier, in the mountains… Now that I thought about it, he had planned to seduce me from the start. Another sigh slipped out.

“Just stick with Cheongrok.”

“That guy reports everything to my father, so that’s a no-go.”

Without a word, I folded the robe he had taken off and placed it neatly on top of the wooden cabinet. Maybe he had felt restricted from all the weapons he usually carried.

Now, just in his undershirt, he rolled his shoulders left and right, stretching comfortably.

As he extended his arms and stretched his body, our eyes met. The moment they did, he quickly dove under the blanket and lay down.

I wasn’t sure if he was genuinely embarrassed or just pretending, but his eyes sparkled with silent pressure, urging me to lie down beside him.

The idea of sleeping next to him felt overwhelming, but I couldn’t exactly reject him either. It would be too cruel to leave him hanging.

As I hesitated, he spoke in a dejected tone.

“Should I sleep at the edge instead?”

“Ah, no.”

I answered, though I still wasn’t entirely comfortable lying down next to him. I hesitated over whether to take off my clothes or not, but before I could decide, he slipped out from under the blanket, pinched the wick of the candle with his thumb and index finger, and extinguished the flame.

That was somehow even more pressuring than him telling me outright to hurry up and lie down.

“Your clothes are going to get wrinkled…”

”…”

Unable to make a decision, I let out a shallow sigh. Then, he retrieved the clothes I had placed on the cabinet.

When I saw him start putting his pants back on, I tilted my head slightly in confusion.

“Why are you putting those back on?”

“You seem uncomfortable. I’ll wear them to sleep too.”

“Ah, no. You should sleep comfortably.”

The moment I finished speaking, Lee Seol swiftly stripped off the pants he had just put on and tossed them onto the cabinet again before diving back under the covers.

I watched him disappear beneath the blanket, then slowly began untying my robe strings.