My husband had his arms wrapped around me as always when we were in bed together, which was most of the time when we were in the village. My husband told me it was his was of keeping me around since I was always on my feet here helping everyone. So to be honest, I didn't mind at all. I know my husband complained a lot that he didn't get to see much of me at all, but he also understood that my brother had been abandoned by his woman and left alone with his children, and forever this village was the only thing we had in the memory of my father, so looking after the villagers was just as much my responsibility than his, and I couldn't let him down. But on the plus side, I had a tall, tanned and extremely good-looking man with excellent physique lock himself around me, so I had a pretty good view as my daily reward to my hard work. And he always looked so especially good after I had tended to him and tucked him in bed with the hair oils in his hair, the fruits and herbs that I helped him to soak in every night which made his skin glisten. And his lips, his red lips always pouted perfectly after he was full from a hearty meal that I always cooked for him, no matter how tired I was. It was a hot summer's night and for some reason, I couldn't sleep at all after a long day with the woman of the village and assigning them jobs in the new communal kitchen that we had just put together. But even when I was busy with everyone else apart from him, he was constantly on my mind no matter what I did. And I missed my husband, even with his possessive nature, his child-like personality that only I saw, and his high sex drive. He could either sulk all day long when he didn't get what he wanted when he wanted it, or he could follow you around the room with his hand around your waist and his head into your neck with his long hair completely out so you wouldn't be able to focus on anything else but him. But it was ultimately his constant scheming that seemed to always revolve around either myself or my brother that always made me want to surrender myself to him every night and just stay in his arms peacefully until the sum came up and we had to once again join the real world.
"What on earth are you thinking about so late at night wife, that you have to keep on molesting your own husband in his sleep?" "And when you do the same to me even when I am sleeping, what do you call that I wonder?" "I call it taking something that belongs to me and using it well." "Your double standards never cease to amaze me." "What double standards? When have I ever put down any woman? Or gone against their rights?" "Mine. All the time. Every single night for years, no matter what season, what time of day and even if I am right in the middle of something." "You're different, that's how." "And how did you come to that conclusion?" "Don't you remember what the physician told you? You are a woman who is idealistic to bearing children, and you have prominent beauty that is enough to drive any man to such animalistic behaviour all times of the day. How could I not take advantage of what I have right in front of me?" "You insatiable beast." "You love it really." Says who?" "Says the woman who ends up making so much noise when we-" "Have you no shame? Don't you dare finish that sentence." "Exactly." "How comes you aren't asleep by the way?" "You didn't put enough honey in my tea." That was a complete lie and he knew it; but he would never admit to not sleeping just because I couldn't. And it was little things like this that just made me love him more and more, as I was clearly trying to show him. And he was just enjoying seeing me suffer without him as usual. Our marriage was a little unusual as it was full of games, schemes and a lot of intimacy, but it was our version of romance and it suited us perfectly.
"What are you doing, wife? Can't you let me sleep a little?" "You think that's funny don't you? Mocking me won't put me off." "Clearly." "You're so horrible!" "If you think that you can call me that after watching you practically burn for your husband…then you are absolutely right." "Husband!" "What? It isn't fun is it, when your partner is tired and all you are doing is burning like a dog in heat." "I hate you!" "But I love you." "Go away!" "Where should I go?" "Far away from me as possible!" "Ok, I think I'll just sleep with the new maid I just hired that you wouldn't stop complaining about no matter what she did. Maybe she would appreciate me more…." "No!" "No?" That jerk always pushed my buttons and made me eat my words, and he loved it. He was already almost in hysterics when I threw away our blanket that I wrapped myself in to sulk and I practically latched myself around him like our daughter always did. "I thought you hated me?" "I don't hate you." "Then? Say it?" "You jerk." "Then you can suffer alone tonight." "No! I don't hate you because I love you. I love you too much." "Now that wasn't so hard to admit now, was it?" "Forget it, I am going to sleep with my brother." "Don't you dare leave this bed." "So you can leave but I can't?" "Not at this time of night, do not even dream about it." "And what are you going to do about it, husband? Will you take me in your arms and keep me in this bed?" "You wouldn't dare leave me alone again." "Watch me."
Following his predictable behaviour, we both found ourselves on top of each other, under each other and locked in each other's embraces until we were out of breathe and we felt the adrenaline that had been fuelling us slowly leave our bodies. But all I wanted was to be locked in his arms for eternity and stay there. I wanted to feel his heartbeat against mine, I wanted to inhale his scent forever and I wanted his hands all over me so nobody else could every try to lay a claim to me ever again.
"What happened? Are you not satisfied yet?" "Is that really all you can think about?" "It's all men can think about all day long." "Unbelievable." "We aren't the only ones you know. I know we had to be careful when we had the twins but when you were pregnant with Hwan you were all over me…." "Ok ok, keep those vivid memories to yourself then." "What are you thinking about?" "I'm thinking about your parents." "Why?" "I am thinking about all noble families back in the city, and no-one has as many children as we do from a single woman. All the noblemen have concubines and mistresses to come up with even half the amount of children that we do. Won't your parents be proud of them?" "My father will never be proud of anything that comes from you now that we know about his jealousy against your father." "Even though Hyuk is so much like the son that he lost?" "He won't treasure Hyuk or any of my children, no matter how outstanding they are, because they are not of noble birth. But just you wait; there are so many reasons why I chose you as my spouse and I chased you as hard as I did." "Why?" "I have witnessed the miracles you have preformed on our adopted son, and I know that with the way you teach and raise them, that their family backgrounds will not matter at all. They will be great people and surpass everything that toxic man wanted to achieve and more." "So that is why you engulfed me in scheme after scheme, game after game and made me almost loose my mind without you." "I didn't do anything about that, you were already deeply in love with me for a long time."
"Do you really love me, husband?" "More than you can ever understand." "Even in my old age?" "Your still beautiful and healthy enough to bare me more children." "Is that what you want? Even though I almost lost my life when I bore our last set of twins?" "I want enough children and grandchildren to fill up an entire home." "You should start your plans for building up orphanages in the city." "I want more children from our blood." "How many exactly?" "10" "Husband!" "What? You asked for it."
That was how our conversations usually went, and that is how we usually interacted with each other. No matter how old we got, we still acted like the children we were when we met each other all the time. He was forever immortalised as the young, handsome and vigorous man he was when he started hunting me down as soon as i left his sight in the past. The one who burned down buildings for me, the one who could capture my enemies in a single net and torture them exactly how they deserved, the one who could tear down my own walls of insecurity with full force and the ones who made all of my wishes come true unwittingly. He was the solider in shining armour that every single woman fantasied about saving them from their families, societal pressures, and even from their own internal conflicts. And he was all mine.