episode_0407

***

Chunhyang didn’t say much. But even with what she said, which wasn’t much, I could tell what words my father had used to persuade her.

“I must give up my feelings for you, in order to protect them.”

Chunhyang spoke, revealing her face softly in the moonlight.

You have to give up your mind to protect it.

There was nothing I could do other than hang on to the bars.

“Chunhyang. Still, shouldn’t we live?”

It speaks of the most precious things to humans and tries to persuade them.

“Isn’t there sometimes something more precious than life?”

She was as hard as stone.

“No. There is nothing more precious than life.”

He brings his face closer to the bars and speaks.

“You are not good at lying.”

Chunhyang smiled, ever so slightly.

“Are you lying?”

“Didn’t you act for something more precious than life?”

Chunhyang stopped looking at the floor and focused her eyes directly on me.

Chunhyang’s eyes, hidden in the shadows, seemed to be looking at a sunken night sea.

Calmness, silence, silence, and the risk of death…

From the moment I took the risk of coming here, I was asked whether there was something more precious than life.

“This humble bitch. I haven’t seen you for a long time, but… you’ve always been running around for something more important than life.”

As if vaguely reminiscing about the past, he smiled faintly like frost on a window in early fall.

“That is why everyone in Namwon respects and follows you and your family.”

“Student children, elderly people, and women who fetch water…”

I thought it was a bit too much to go with the women’s gaze, but…

Chunhyang muttered in a voice that was barely audible.

“I believe that all the attention and respect directed towards Mr. Kang’s family was created by the master’s passion and sincerity, not by the elders.”

“Chunhyang.”

A hand covered in scars tightly gripped the board of the sword.

“You said that the sight of me riding on the swing was beautiful…”

Chunhyang was cautious, as if revealing a hidden secret.

“I’m telling you now… Actually, whenever you passed by that street, I always went on the swing.

I held onto the rope, bent my knees, and spoke to Hyangdan.

Hyangdan, push the net rope.

To the distant sea

Like pushing a boat,

Hyangdan-ah

To see you, because I want to enter your clear eyes just once more. I rode the swing, hoping and hoping.”

Chunhyang fumbled for a very precious memory that she had kept hidden in a treasure chest of memories.

“I have always resented the world. I thought that no one could understand me and that no one like me existed. But… the master appeared.”

For a moment, I felt like I was being sucked into Chunhyang’s deep eyes.

“You were the one who brought spring to my heart that was frozen like a river in winter.”

“When such a dazzling young master… said that he adored this lowly thing… I felt like he had the whole world.”

Tears fell like rain down her left cheek.

“Chunhyang. So shouldn’t we think more about getting out of here? If the time you spend with me is precious, you should think about buying more.”

Chunhyang slowly shook her head.

“If I could get out of here and connect with you, I would be extremely happy… but for you, there would be only hardships.”

“No….”

“Are you saying that you will become the person who drove a nail into the hearts of your parents by being captivated by the beauty of a lowly child? Do you plan to abandon your cause and spend eternity in the arms of a mere woman?”

“But….”

“I am glad to hear that you are saving me, but I think that giving up yourself for the person you love is the way to maintain chastity.”

As before, you indirectly express your refusal.

“So, master. I beg you to stop leaving like this. This lowly year. I will cherish this meeting with you even after I die.”

“…….”

frustrated.

It’s so frustrating.

It’s so frustrating that I want to put my hand into my mouth and scratch the inside.

– Huh!

A coughing sound was heard outside. It must have been a sound made by a guard who had stepped aside.

I got up and lifted my butt off the cold dirt floor.

“I think time is up.”

Chunhyang politely bowed her head and greeted me.

“No matter what happens, I will save you. Just know that.”

That sight was frustrating and uncomfortable, so I made a declaration and headed out of the prison.

“Are those words your choice?”

Chunhyang asked my back as I was about to leave.

“What?”

“…No.”

Chunhyang turned her head. It probably means that we won’t talk anymore.

– Huh!

After clearing my throat for the second time, I left the prison.

***

My destination was in a quiet place away from the center of Namwon.

“Master, are you okay? If the old man gets angry…”

Bangja, who seemed like he would do anything to save Chunhyang, looked worried when I told him to go home.

“Father is ‘Jeon’ Vice Minister. Isn’t ‘hyeon’ an adverb?”

“If you had been a vice president, this wouldn’t have happened.”

The guy just grumbled without saying a word.

I wanted to hit him on the head, but I walked in silence because what Bangja said was not wrong.

As soon as it dawned on me, I put Bangja in front. My house was quite far from the prison.

It was like the emotional distance between me and Chunhyang.

The sun had completely set, and the flowers and grass that had slept all night sang a song of spring.

I moved my feet without even having time to absorb the distant scent of spring.

The closer I got to the house, the more people recognized me and said hello.

Seeing that there was no fear on their faces as they greeted each other politely, I realized that there was no lie in Chunhyang’s words.

The wall of a fairly large house with tiles caught my eye.

As I passed by the slow-moving Bangja, I caught up with him at a brisk pace.

“Bangja.”

“Yes, master.”

“What kind of son was I?”

“The son was good at keeping the line set by his elders.”

As he stood in front of the gate, Bangja stepped forward to knock on the door.

I blocked Bangja with my arm.

“Master?”

And just lift your legs.

bang!

kicked in the door

“You kept the line well?”

The hinges were smashed, the door rolled back, and the servants of the mansion began to gather around in shock.

I looked around the house in the dusty yard and then looked back at the room.

“Then you must have gone astray outside the line.”

So, you must have been dating without your parents knowing.

Bangja closed his eyes tightly and hit his forehead with his hand.