Chapter 143: Resentments (Bunno)

I had no choice but to follow the maid that I had a feeling was the reason why I had almost lost my job. But now I was homeless and Seon-Ho wasn't even looking at me after wha I had just said to him moments before I walked into this trap that Ae-Cha had become a part of. Just a few hours ago I was on the Lego of celebrating my new deal that put my plans forward and now I had nearly lost it due to the people who jus kept walking in and out of my life. This was the reason why I was so afraid to let Seon-Ho back int my life so soon, in case he ruined something for me just because I wouldn't give into his demands like the spoilt nobleman that he was turning out to be. But I just couldn't understand this at all; this man had everything now. He had regained his position in the palace, he had a powerful woman on his arms and no doubt in his bed who could help him far more than I could have, he had his status of nobility and his wealth. So what on earth did this man want from me? Unless he was here to get petty revenge on me for keeping secrets from him? Was that it? Was that why he kept following me everywhere and trying to keep me by his side? To teach me some sort of lesson? Well, I had bigger plans to follow after this and I wasn't going to let him suck me into these games just because he was bored or had nothing else to do.

"Yeon? Yeon!" "What? What is it?" "It is him, isn't it? The man who followed you from the etiquette classes?" "Yes, it is him." "Your brother's best friend who took your…" "For goodness sake Ae-Cha, you do not need to announce it to the world!" "Why not? Are you unaware of how wealthy this man is! I would want the world to know that he is mine to keep him away from the gold-diggers, just like his maid over here!"

That son-of-a…he really did have his things set up here in this luxury home that he must have taken from my little shack of a home before he had his maid set fire to the place. I couldn't believe that he was willing to go this far just to…well I had no idea what he truly wanted from me, but I had an idea of what he would do to keep me.

"Hurry up! The Young Master is waiting and…" "You can shut your mouth! I know exactly who set fire to Yeon's home to cover this missing charcoals, sister. And for what? Petty revenge?" "We are half-sisters, remember? And so what if I did? I was only following the orders of my master to…" I pretty much tuned out the fight these two were having as I tried to find my way around this place to access the clothes that Seon-Ho wanted me to wear…and I got the shock of my life when I entered a room that almost looked identical to his mother's quarters back in his father's home. It looked like he had put a lot of time and effort into recreating it…and it just so happened to come with a wardrobe full of noble silk dresses, from the likes that Hui-Jee could never even hope to wear in this lifetime due to her social status. As for me well my status had been updated in the palace but…but I never said that I wanted to live like a noblewoman…no matter what beautiful dresses he seemed to buy just for me…I mean, I had much more freedom as a lowborn than any noblewoman who were bound to all of the societal rules and sacrifices that Seon-Ho had to make just to constantly fit in…

"Sung-Rok? What are you doing here?" "The Young Master has called upon your friend and her sister to testify on your behalf for this investigation. He wants you to stay here and catch up on your sleep before he returns." "Wait! I haven't even changed my clothes yet! We kneeled on he dirty ground for so long and…" "That is no-ones fault but your own. Make haste now, before the Young Master changes his mind about helping you both out at all…" "Can't Yeon come with me? Please?" "The Young Master forbids her presence! Do no make me repeat myself and follow me."

I had to really wait until I was completely left alone before my legs gave way and I almost broke down right there and then. I had almost been forced to strip in front of the entire village if Seon-Ho hadn't stepped in and helped me when he did. I was grateful to him, but I couldn't let him know since he would take any little hint and run with it. I missed him so much every single day that I was parted from him, but he had already chosen his woman, so why was he so shamelessly chasing me, finding me and giving me false hope? Did our previous relationship mean nothing to him anymore? I meant our basic friendship for over a decade and not…what we had under his father's roof that I had been forcing myself to forget since he had no intentions of letting Hui-Jae go. But it wasn't fair, not on me anyways; how could he put me through that? I haven't even said anything about it before he forced me to partake in the tea ceremony that was meant for lovers and now? He showed up in my life like a storm and made me care for him as if he had nowhere else to go when he had been hiding this mini-yangban the entire time? It was double the size of the place that I had been living in and he already had a room prepared for me? No, I couldn't do this again, i couldn't live with him. He would put all of my plans to an end and just make me serve him until he decided to stop torturing me one day, even though I had every right to keep the secrets that I did from him. My brother abhorred the thought of a potential husband using me for his own game and I…now it looks like I should've been more cautious around the man that I had fallen for as soon as I met him, even though I wanted to believe that he of all people wouldn't do that to me. But I was wrong…

"Young Master? What is wrong with you? Why are you already so drunk?" I could hear Ae-Cha's panicked tones from a mile away and I couldn't help but to hide myself near the entrance of the door so I could hear everything from a safe distance. "What do you mean? I just helped shut down an investigation in a single night single-handily, of course I should celebrate…what is wrong with me?" "Young Master, why are you lying to me? And to yourself?" "Because…whenever I try to fix my mistakes, I always seem to make int worse. No matter what I try to do, everyone closes they're doors to my face, it as if I really am the monster that my father made me out to be. Yeon as the only one whoo didn't make me feel that way and now even she doesn't want anything to do with me at all! She loves me, she has always loved me, so how can she betray ma like this? Everyone screamed at me, everyone ignores me…where is she? I need to see Yeon, I need to see if she is ok…" "Do you really miss her already? You just saw her half an hour ago!" "Who…are you talking about? Who do I miss?" What on earth was Ae-Cha doing? Why was it starting to sound like she was trying to instigate him against me? Just like Hui-Jae did? And speaking of Hui-Jae, she would surely show herself here soon to keep track of him. And now I had nowhere to go apart from here…what should I do? Maybe…it was time to bring my brother back so they could finally get some closure?

"…are you alright? Maybe I should just go…but I was only visiting Yeon and I have nowhere to go and…" "You can stay here for only a day, but this place isn't meant for guests. And do me a favour, make sure that Yeon doesn't see me like this…" "Can I…" "Ae-Cha? Where are you?" "Yeon! Were you here the whole time? But why…didn't you say anything at all?" "You go and sleep with your sister whilst I attend to the Young Master?" "But…are you on good terms…" "Ae-Cha? I have looked after this man for 5 years now, I knew what I am doing. You can take over your sister's room and I will help the Young Master sober up." Just get away from him! You only met him for 5 minutes and she was already all over him just like she was with every single man that she came into contact with! I…I needed to keep my distance from this man, but he also drove me crazy every single time that I tried to regain the independence that my brother let me have, because he knew that I couldn't stand routine and being controlled. But Seon-Ho was tempting me with everything that he had and I was in danger of being sucked into some sort of love triangle that I didn't want to be a part of at all.

"Yeon?" "Come over here and let me help you sober up…" "Why did you disappear? Why are you hiding from me?" The pain and hurt in his voice didn't make sense to me at all, he had a woman! He had everything could have ever wished for, so what did he want from me? What was this….thing that kept bringing us together? "I am not hiding from anyone; my brother has his own life with his men, you have your own life with your woman and I am finally achieving my dream of being educated and regaining my independence." "And what about us? With what happened in the palace? Or have you already forgotten?" "Seon-Ho, you are a nobleman who is entitled to have his own private harem if she wishes. But with my epilepsy…I have already long planned to life of solitude and…." "And what else? How many schemes and tricks have you planned behind my back? Or the back of your own brother? Does he realise that you are single-handedly trying to take down the only remaining family that you have left?" "Brother! My plans are my plans alone, my work is my work alone and the time for me wanting your help is gone as well! I am not the same little girl who would chase you around and waited for you by the entrance of your home every single day for just a little bit of comfort and acknowledgment that you never gave me! And then you chose my brothers woman in the palace right after we…! I haven't even said anything about it, so who are you to complain about anything when you are the one who is bringing your grand plans in between us! I will never marry in my life as I do not have that luxury, so there is no need for me to become anyone's mistress and concubine! And there is no work for you here, so please return to your woman and leave me alone! Go and achieve your big dreams without me and good luck with your life!" I had to almost sprint out of there before I completely lost my composure and broke down and hurt him with my words even more. But I had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to remember this tomorrow and forget everything, or worse; I would be made to pay for this sooner or later.