Chapter 22
Sharing a Bed
After leaving the Jungjeong Hall, Soyukrang was summoned once again—this time by Master Jin of the Cheonja-gap class.
When Master Jin finished questioning him, Master Jang also came to ask. Everyone was seeking him out to inquire about Go Daesun’s situation.
Being pulled around from place to place, night fell before he knew it.
Large snowflakes began pouring down from the sky.
It was really snowing.
Soyukrang gazed at the swirling snowfall as he walked toward the front gate of the academy.
The moment he stepped outside, he saw a small, thin woman.
She was wearing an apricot-colored floral top and carrying a small basket on her back. With her head lowered, she was playfully tapping pebbles on the ground with her foot.
The sight of her looked incredibly adorable.
Soyukrang’s eyes wavered slightly. Leaning on his cane, he walked toward her.
Seeing him, Gogyo smiled brightly.
“Are you done at the academy now?”
“Yeah.”
As if something came to mind, Gogyo said,
“I couldn’t wait any longer, so I told Uncle Na and Sosun to go back first.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go find a carriage.”
Gogyo’s gentle fingertips lightly tugged at his sleeve.
“It’s snowing heavily. Riding in a carriage could be dangerous, so let’s stay at an inn for the night.”
Soyukrang’s gaze lingered on the hand gripping his sleeve.
“…Alright.”
As the year-end approached, the inns were crowded with people. Only after checking several places did the two finally find an inn with vacancy.
“Two rooms, please.”
The inn attendant replied,
“Sir, we only have one room left.”
At the words one room left, both of them froze.
The attendant looked at them suspiciously.
“What’s there to hesitate about? It’s the year-end, so all the inns are full. On top of that, the heavy snow has kept foreign merchants in town. If you keep hesitating, you’ll lose even this room.”
They already knew that other inns were fully booked.
Still… sharing one room was a bit uncomfortable.
Conflict flickered in Soyukrang’s eyes.
As for Gogyo… she had no real hesitation at all.
They were legally married. What was wrong with coming to sleep when they were tired? Besides, it wasn’t as if she were forcing herself on him—there was simply only one room available. Wasn’t that right?
Still, she put on a troubled expression, pretending to be modest, as if she felt the same awkwardness as he did.
Soyukrang was strong toward the strong, and weak toward the weak.
With her head lowered, she looked like a harmless little rabbit.
And in this snowstorm, dragging her frail body around to look for another inn was unreasonable.
Soyukrang made up his mind.
“Then we’ll take the room.”
The attendant led them to a detached annex on the second floor.
There was a reason it was the last room left. It was small, dark, and extremely cold. Still, considering the heavy snow, the inn provided a brazier of burning charcoal (炭火) for free.
The room cost two hundred copper coins.
Normally it was only one hundred, but prices rose during the Lunar New Year season.
As the servant placed the brazier down and left, he said they could either eat dinner in the main hall or have it brought to the room.
Room service? Gogyo found it unexpected.
In the end, she didn’t eat at the inn. Instead, she opened the window, leaned her small body against the sill, and stared longingly at a stall across the alley selling osmanthus cakes, practically drooling.
She realized her tastes had changed from her previous life.
For example, she hadn’t liked sweets or spicy food back then, but after coming here, she had grown fond of osmanthus cakes and pickled vegetables (酱菜).
“Do you want to eat osmanthus cake?”
Soyukrang, standing beside her, asked after seeing her drooling.
Gogyo nodded.
“Yes.”
In truth, she didn’t want it that badly—at least not as much as Soyukrang thought.
But one thing she had learned while living with him was that he found it difficult to refuse her when she acted meek and obedient.
Soyukrang took her out of the inn.
The snowflakes grew larger, though the wind had weakened. The white snow drifting down created a peaceful, beautiful scene.
And Soyukrang looked even more beautiful against the snowy backdrop. Passersby couldn’t take their eyes off him.
That morning, Gogyo had told him to put on an extra coat, but she herself had forgotten to do so. Compared to her previous life, this small body felt the cold much more keenly. Her shivering wasn’t an exaggeration.
Soyukrang, walking ahead, turned back.
After hesitating briefly, he took off his coat and handed it to her.
She stared at him with wide eyes, then asked as if she didn’t understand.
“Pardon?”
Soyukrang opened his mouth to speak, frowned slightly, and then—resigned—draped the coat over her shoulders himself.
The coat retained his warmth and a faint scent. It was warm and pleasant.
Gogyo blinked her bright eyes.
“Thank you.”
The sweet tone that slipped out startled even herself.
Soyukrang didn’t speak, but Gogyo noticed that his pace had slowed.
Oh—he even knows how to wait?
They crossed the street and entered the stall. Besides osmanthus cakes, it also sold steaming bowls of tangyuan (汤圆, glutinous rice dumplings).
Gogyo couldn’t hide the sparkle in her eyes—they were practically glowing.
Soyukrang ordered two bowls of tangyuan and sat down with her.
Gogyo asked the proprietress to fry a poached egg (荷包蛋).
Thinking it was for her, the proprietress put the egg into Gogyo’s bowl. But when the tangyuan arrived, Gogyo scooped the egg from her bowl and placed it into Soyukrang’s.
Because they were poor, they rarely ate out. Seeing Gogyo give him the only egg, Soyukrang’s eyes took on a complicated look.
“Proprietress, one more poached egg here.”
His voice was low and soft, sounding almost refreshing amid the snowstorm.
Touched by the couple’s affection, the proprietress made the extra egg especially large and pretty.
Silently, Gogyo picked up her spoon and poked at the yolk.
In fact, she hated poached eggs…
After eating tangyuan and poached eggs, the two returned to the inn. Gogyo carried a box of osmanthus cakes in her arms.
They had gone out just to buy osmanthus cakes, but ended up eating tangyuan and eggs as well, leaving them so full they couldn’t eat another bite.
The room wasn’t too cold thanks to the brazier. Gogyo took off the coat, called for a servant, and asked for hot tea. When asked if she also wanted hot water, she said yes.
After washing up, the two prepared to rest.
There was only one bed, and it was cold. With the ground frozen, laying bedding on the floor was unthinkable—you could freeze to death. There were two cotton quilts in the room, so Gogyo and Soyukrang each took one.
Only then did Gogyo realize why there were two quilts. It wasn’t because there were two people, but because one quilt alone was far too cold.
Gogyo couldn’t fall asleep from the cold. Her hands and feet were already icy.
From Soyukrang’s breathing, she could tell he wasn’t asleep either.
“Um…”
She was about to call him, but realized she had never once addressed him properly.
Of course, he had never addressed her either. It was as if neither of them quite knew what their relationship was.
Husband and wife? No.
Friends? No.
Sharing a bed… no, absolutely not!
In the end, Gogyo had no choice but to call him seobangnim—husband.
“Seobangnim.”
Perhaps because it was her first time saying it, her voice cracked.
Soyukrang didn’t respond for a long while—probably startled by being called that.
Only after some time did he ask in a low voice,
“What is it?”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Cold?” Soyukrang echoed.
“Yes.”
Her voice in the night was thin and fragile, tinged with a nasal sound from the cold.
After hesitating, Soyukrang shared his quilt with her.
Following her rule of “if you share with me, I’ll share with you,” Gogyo also covered him with her quilt. Their quilts became completely shared.
Soyukrang’s body was like a small brazier—warm.
Gogyo immediately felt her body warming up.
Soyukrang, slightly dazed, wondered whether he should chase this uninvited guest out of his quilt or not.
“Seobangnim, I’m not cold anymore.”
The young girl’s gentle voice carried innocent satisfaction.
Soyukrang… couldn’t push her away.
In her previous life, Gogyo had never slept in the same bed as anyone else—not even with another woman in the same room. She thought she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, but before long, she drifted into a peaceful slumber.
She fell asleep, but Soyukrang did not.
He looked at Gogyo lying beside him. Pale moonlight filtered through the paper window and illuminated her face. Lying on her side, the blemished half of her face was hidden.
Perhaps she truly felt the cold badly—her small face was flushed red. Long eyelashes, delicate features… if not for the red marks, she would surely have been a beautiful girl.
An inexplicable tenderness brushed past Soyukrang’s chest.
He frowned and quickly erased the feeling.
Soyukrang slept very neatly, barely moving all night.
Gogyo’s sleeping habits were decent as well. Aside from gradually moving closer to him, wrapping her arms around his body and resting her head on his shoulder, there was really nothing else.
Gogyo slept until morning.
When she woke up, Soyukrang was already awake, standing by the window reading a book.
Sunlight filtered through the paper window and shone on his handsome face. She wasn’t sure if she was mistaken, but his face seemed slightly flushed.
“You’re awake.”
He greeted her without looking at her.
“Mm, yes. Good morning.”
Gogyo rubbed her eyes and yawned. Still half-asleep, she murmured lazily without realizing it.
Could any normal man endure this situation?
Feeling his heart race, Soyukrang suddenly stood up.
“I’ll go buy breakfast!”
As soon as he spoke, he opened the door and rushed out. Left alone, Gogyo scratched her head in confusion.
The snow had already stopped overnight, and the morning sunlight was especially pleasant.
Since the academy was closed that day, the two ate breakfast, rented a carriage, and returned to the village.
