A knock sounded on her door. About an hour after her husband had left her. Mi Sook tensed. Had Dan Se returned for her?
Should she pretend to be asleep?
She sighed in frustration. Was this how she was to spend the rest of her married life? Hiding from her husband?
She cleared her throat and reached for her courage. "Yes?" she called.
"Seok Mi Sook, can I come in? It's Kim Jung Sook." The woman's sweet voice floated through her door.
"Please," Mi Sook responded eagerly, "come in." She was thrilled that someone had come to take her mind off of her pain. And Dan Se.
The door opened, and the pretty young teacher entered her bedchamber. Jung Sook smiled at her and glanced around looking for a chair. But she found only one. And it was covered by Mi Sook's robes. So she simply stepped up to the bed and gazed down at her friend. The woman was lying on her stomach.
"I came to offer you some help." She held up a small jar. "This is a medicinal cream. It will help the bruises to heal. And it will relieve some of the pain. Would you allow me to put it on you?"
Mi Sook stared up at her in astonishment. No one had ever offered to salve her wounds. But that sounded heavenly. She found herself biting back tears as she nodded her head.
Jung Sook must be an angel sent straight from Heaven.
The woman approached her bed and sat down gingerly on the edge of it as she turned to face her. "Can I lift your shirt up?" Soo Ho's wife queried.
"I'll take it off." Mi Sook's cheeks blossomed as she struggled to lean back enough to pull up her shirt.
Jung Sook turned away from her to preserve her modesty. "I think that you are not much in the company of other women, are you?" she asked as she stared back at the door.
Mi Sook glanced her way and noticed how Jung Sook had shielded herself from her nakedness. Her heart softened towards the woman even more. "Thank you for preserving my privacy," she mumbled. "I have seldom been among other girls."
Jung Sook made a small sound of affirmation.
Mi Sook lay on her tummy once more. "My back is bare now, Kim Jung Sook," she murmured. She turned her head towards the other girl.
"Please call me Jung Sook," the younger girl murmured.
Mi Sook smiled at her. "I will. And you may call me Mi Sook."
They both giggled, and Jung Sook scooted closer to her new friend.
"Thank you for coming," Mi Sook whispered.
"Of course! Friends have to stick together, you know."
"Are we friends?" Mi Sook asked in a tiny voice.
"We aren't just friends. We are kindred spirits, my dear," Jung Sook responded as she scooped some of the cream from her jar.
She gazed down in horror at her friend's back. Already, the skin was beginning to purple. The yellow giving way to the darker shade. She winced as she studied those brutal marks. Then, ever so softly, she began to smear the lotion on her back.
"Kindred spirits?" Dan Se's wife seemed to echo his earlier question.
"Mmm," Jung Sook nodded as she continued to minister the healing balm to her friend's bruised skin.
"How so?"
"I knew within a few minutes of meeting you," the teacher murmured.
"Knew what?"
ESTÁS LEYENDO
The Kinsman: A Sequel to Hwarang: The Saga of the Sooks Book #5
FanficDan Se's brother died at his own hand. It was an accident, but he now carries a heavy secret. To make matters worse, he has been betrothed to his brother's intended, a girl who hates him. Will the poor hwarang ever find any sort of happiness? Or...
