A heavy silence fell. Sahyeon just sat there, grinning at me, scrunching up his nose. I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head.
“That’s a fucking insane joke.”
Sahyeon’s eyebrows drooped into a pathetic arch, like he was actually hurt.
“Why would you think it’s a joke? My lady always treats my genuine offers like they’re worthless. Kinda breaks my heart.”
“Oh, don’t give me that crap. How the hell would someone like you know how to embroider? Even I don’t know how.”
“Wow. The arrogance. It’s kind of impressive.”
Sahyeon let out a little laugh, looking genuinely baffled, then just plopped right down on the edge of my bed like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Who told him to park his ass there? I kicked at him. Honestly, he could’ve easily dodged, but for some reason he let himself get shoved off without resistance.
“I’m telling you, I really came to help.”
“Yeah, but how? And why?”
“Mm, just because? I mean, you’re still the ‘lady’ I serve. Wouldn’t want you making a public fool of yourself. Plus, I just really don’t like that Sohae woman.”
That was nowhere near a satisfying explanation. And I still didn’t buy for a second that this bastard could actually embroider like the precious daughters of noble clans.
“Why do you even know how to do that?”
“Eh, it just kinda happened? I happen to know a lot of things.”
“And actually—now that I think about it, I’m kinda pissed. Why do you just assume I can’t do it?”
That made Sahyeon scratch his cheek, looking awkward, like he was trying to figure out how to put it delicately. After all that mental prep, the shit he finally came up with was this:
“Well… you don’t exactly talk like a noble lady now do you?”
Goddammit, all that build-up for this.
“So what, were you a noble lady then?”
I snapped, annoyed, and Sahyeon gave me a pretty little smile on that already annoyingly handsome face.
“Yes, actually. I was the cherished young miss of a distinguished household.”
“Ugh.”
Why did I even bother talking to him.
But apparently he was serious about teaching me. Sahyeon untied a bundle he’d brought and laid it out. Inside were threads, needles, and an embroidery hoop all neatly arranged. I could only stare, dumbstruck.
“We’re really doing this? Right now?”
“Of course. There’s only three days left. It’s urgent, isn’t it?”
He said it in such a laid-back voice it sounded more like he was mocking me.
“If I turn out better at this than you, you have to let me hit you three times.”
“Naturally, my lady. For overstepping, I’d deserve five.”
Why the hell was this bastard so certain I’d be terrible at it? That alone fired me up. I couldn’t stand being looked down on this much.
Who knows—maybe the only reason I’ve never done embroidery is because I just never tried it, and I’ll turn out to be a prodigy!
I snatched up the hoop, fuming. Sahyeon gave me a bright little grin.
“Let’s try a simple peony each, shall we?”
I didn’t bother answering, just picked some thread at random. Hmph, peonies or the granddaddy of all peonies — like I couldn’t handle that!
But the moment I stabbed the needle into the fabric, my hand froze. Couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t quite… remember.
What did a peony look like again…..? It was big, right?
I snuck a look at Sahyeon’s hands. They moved smoothly, without hesitation.
That only made me more impatient. Screw it—I started stabbing the needle every which way.
Who cares if it was a peony or not. All flowers were basically the same. Just vaguely floral and it’d pass. I mean, I’m Seol Danhae!
***
A complete, undeniable defeat.
I had no choice but to admit it.
“…Gaah.”
“Hahaha.”
The one saving grace was that Sahyeon apparently expected this outcome so thoroughly, he didn’t even bother mocking me too hard.
I stared down at the scrap of fabric in my hands. I was supposed to be embroidering a flower, but it was just this messy, lumpy mass.
When it wouldn’t come out right, I’d tried to rescue it with bright colors—only for it to look like someone’s vomit. Fantastic.
And to make things worse…
“You embroidered that red plum blossom with your own blood, didn’t you?”
“…Yeah, fuck you.”
The cloth was a wreck, my hands were a wreck—blood everywhere.
Meanwhile, Sahyeon’s work was genuinely nice even to my clueless eyes.
I still couldn’t quite recall what peonies were supposed to look like, but his had this big, lush pink bloom half-opening that was clearly beautiful. Even a total ignoramus like me could tell.
I couldn’t stand the irritation bubbling up. I chucked the hoop at him. Lost sleep for this shit.
“Why the hell are you good at this too? It’s fucking annoying.”
“You think I’m good at it?”
For a second I was speechless. I hated to admit it, but… well, the only point of comparison was my monstrosity. So there was no escaping it.
“Yeah, I guess… compared to mine…”
I mumbled it out, sulking. Sahyeon pulled something from his pocket and leaned in close.
“What else am I good at?”
“What?”
“You said I was good at ‘this too.’ So what else do you think I’m good at, my lady?”
He tilted his head in close, eyes gleaming with anticipation. That smug face lit a spark of rage.
“Are you insane? Why’d you shove your face in like that!”
I shoved his chin away with my palm.
“What else are you good at—running your damn mouth, twisting my words, that’s what!”
“Hahaha. True, I am pretty good at that.”
“Glad you know. Now piss off. I’ll give you this, your embroidery’s a bit better than mine, but I’m not learning from you.”
Of course, Sahyeon being Sahyeon, he didn’t piss off. Instead he rummaged in his clothes again, then suddenly grabbed my hand.
The moment our warmth met, the little cuts on my hand all prickled at once.
“Ah…!”
“What a stubborn lady. Why didn’t you just admit you couldn’t do it before stabbing yourself this badly.”
He’d pulled out salve and a clean bandage.
“It’s not like I got stabbed with a sword. Don’t be dramatic.”
I tried to snatch my hand back, pushing the stuff back at him. But Sahyeon just sighed, then gently tugged my wrist toward him again.
“You’ve got training tomorrow. Just accept it and let me apply it.”
Why was this asshole being weirdly serious all of a sudden?
“…I can do it myself. Give it. Since when do you even care about me?”
“Ouch. That hurts. I only ever think about you, my lady.”
“That’s why I don’t trust you.”
Always running your mouth with that empty grin. Still, the way he was carefully treating me was so unexpectedly earnest that I ended up just letting him.
I realized I’d never really looked at Sahyeon from this angle before. His lowered lashes looked strangely soft.
If he’d just keep his mouth shut, even in simple clothes, he’d look like someone born to a life of luxury. Shame he usually wasted that nice exterior.
“I’ll come by a little earlier tomorrow and teach you more. When the lights go out, I’ll take it as my signal to come in. Sound good?”
“I already said I’m not learning from you.”
Sahyeon’s eyebrow twitched.
“Then who are you going to learn from?”
Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Maybe Hyangah could do it?
I was still hesitating when suddenly a person popped into my mind.
“Oh! I could learn from Mother!”
“Lady Eon… well, that works too.”
Sahyeon let go of my hands after he finished bandaging them and started putting away the scattered hoops and thread. His face gave away nothing. Actually, him backing off so easily was suspicious. Left me feeling a bit… weird.
I ended up staring at my neatly wrapped hands.
“Hey. You’ve been completely MIA this whole past week. What’ve you been doing? Better not have been out doing shady shit behind my back.”
“Why, did you miss me?”
“You don’t have to miss someone to ask where the hell they’ve been. Sometimes you wanna know so you can go kill them.”
“Ah, there’s that lovely violence again. My lady is so mean.”
Was he actually insane?
Watching that fake-sad look on his face drained my urge to argue. When I didn’t rise to it, Sahyeon just shrugged.
“I’m not really sure what shady shit you’re accusing me of, but I didn’t do anything that’d prick my conscience. Not that you’d believe me.”
“You even have a conscience?”
“My lady gave a gift to Hyangah and nothing to me. I was sulking about it, so I hid.”
Sahyeon said that looking me dead in the eye, smiling sweetly. Spouting obvious bullshit with a totally straight face—yeah, definitely untrustworthy.
“I’ve got no reason to give a bastard like you a gift.”
“Come on, do you always need a reason to give someone a present? What kind of life have you lived to say something that bleak?”
That hit a weird little cold spot in my chest.
“…Get out.”
Yeah. What kind of fucked-up life had I lived, that I didn’t even know the simple joy of giving someone a gift for no reason. Did everyone else live knowing that joy except me?
Maybe because I went quiet, Sahyeon glanced over like he was trying to read me.
“Hmm, are you mad now?”
“No.”
“Then why’d you go all quiet?”
“Isn’t it weirder for someone as joyless as me to start running their mouth nonstop?”
At that, Sahyeon just watched me in silence. For a while, nobody said anything.
Then he sighed lightly, picked up one of the hoops again, and moved closer.
“Even if Lady Eon teaches you, if you don’t know the basics of shaping the pattern, people might start asking questions.”
He showed me how to knot the thread, how to sketch out where to place the stitches when making a flower. His quiet voice buzzed in my ear. It reminded me of how he’d corrected my sword stance before, speaking in that same soft way.
Strangely, my whole body felt stiff and awkward, like every part was suddenly self-conscious. I wanted to back away, but it felt like losing if I reacted too much. So I stayed put.
“Are you really never gonna tell me why you know how to do this kind of thing?”
“It’s kind of a tragic story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”
Sahyeon peered at me from up close, looking oddly serious. I froze a moment, then nodded. If he had that expression, I couldn’t help being curious. Even someone that tall and handsome apparently had tragic baggage.
Finally, after hesitating, Sahyeon spoke.
“I… actually had someone I loved. After a long, devoted courtship, we finally pledged ourselves to each other. And so, for days on end, I embroidered my beloved’s wedding robes…”
I yanked the wildflowers out of the vase on the table and stuffed them into Sahyeon’s mouth. He spent the next while spitting bits of flower everywhere.
Fucking hell. I really needed to stop asking this bastard serious questions.
* * *
I yawned nonstop through the whole dawn training. Ended up getting scolded by my master.
“Properly managing your condition is also part of being a martial artist. Especially since the Moyong Clan’s Heaven and Earth Unyielding Divine Art requires unity of body and mind. Focus yourself.”
Fair enough. If I nodded off while meditating my inner energy, it could’ve ended very badly.
Still, on my way back from training, I felt great. The tiny speck of internal power sitting in my dantian was finally growing into something like a pea. Progress!
I was humming to myself on the way to get washed up, when an unexpected person was waiting by the training ground.
“Ahwa. You’re done with training?”
…Lady Eon. Mother.
I froze, darted my eyes around, then gave a stiff nod. Why did it always feel so awkward and hard with her?
“I heard from Sohae. That you agreed to attend the charity auction she’s organizing.”
“Yeah, it just… sort of happened…”
Why the hell did Sohae have to blab all the way to Mother? I was going to go see her anyway, but still.
Lady Eon looked over at me—specifically at my hands, still all torn up from yesterday’s mess that Sahyeon had bandaged—and smiled gently.
“Shall I teach you a bit myself? It’s been so long since I’ve shared tea and sweets with my daughter.”
“Uh… I’m sweaty. I probably smell…”
I sniffed my training clothes, wrinkling my nose. Lady Eon’s eyes rounded with surprise, then she burst out laughing.
“I changed your diapers, child. A little sweat is nothing.”
Ah. Right. Is that… how mothers are?
I ended up following her, feeling oddly off-balance. The whole way, it nagged at me.
Why the hell did so many people suddenly want to teach me embroidery? Did they all see some hidden spark of genius in me?
