.thirty seven.
When Minji awoke with a start, she wasn't sure if it was day or night, as she opened her eyes to a world of darkness as her permanent view.
Her punishment, as the King had mentioned, was to be unable to see her lover ever again. A punishment that had been solely for her to live with. She had learned from Eun on their way to their new home earlier that day that Jung had been locked in a cell and was going to receive a beating as punishment for his actions. When his mother heard about it, she quickly stepped in and he was let go without even so much as a scratch. Yet with Minji the consequences had been harsh from the start when she had no involvement in Jung's plan to run away. Her only sin had been to love the wrong brother, apparently. But she was glad that he was safe, even if she'd never see him again.
She deduced that it was night as she heard crickets chirping outside her window, as well as sounds she felt belonged to the night. The other sounds she heard were in the room and they were the tossing and turning of her husband sleeping uncomfortably on the floor below.
Her hands felt slowly along the bed until she found the edge of it and she pulled herself towards it. She was still wearing her wedding dress by now, and Eun was still wearing his wedding outfit. His grandfather informed them that he had assigned some servants to them, but they would be starting out the next morning to help them get dressed and change the sheets in the bed. Even his family was expecting something from them that night. Minji was only relieved that Eun was innocent enough not to figure it out on his own.
Minji didn't know which direction of the room she was facing, but it was the general direction from which the tossing and turning sounded from. Her voice as low, as though hoping not to wake anyone else in the house, as she called his name, "Eun oppa..." She said first. But then as she thought about it, they were married now and she could just drop the honorifics and call him by his real name.
When there was no response, she tried again.
"Eun..."
She had tried several times, increasing volume a little each time until she finally got a groan as a response. "What do you want?" He asked her, a bit annoyed that she had woken him in the middle of the night. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room and he remembered what had happened to her, his voice dropped the annoyance it held in it. Instead, his voice was gentle as he rephrased his question. "Why are you awake? Do you need something? Is something wrong?"
He sat up on the floor and turned to look at her. Her hair was a mess and her make up was smeared from her crying. Her dress was wrinkled all over and looked like it was starting to come apart from her laying on her side while she slept. Her lips were jutted into a pout from all she had been put through that day.
"No. I'm fine. Its just that I heard you tossing uncomfortably down there." She said, biting down on her lip nervously. "The bed feels like its big. You'd probably sleep better up here."
They were married now. They would have to get used to sleeping in the same bed eventually. They would also have to get used to doing all the things that married couples did.
He sighed. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
But a part of him really wanted to take her up on the offer. The floor was cold and uncomfortable. The bed was soft and warm. It was an easy choice. But he wanted to give her some space, especially after being forced to marry him and then being forced to live in a world of darkness for the rest of her life.
"You're going to make things awkward if you don't just come over here." She informed him. But before he could reply to her, she huffed with determination. "Better yet, if you won't come here, we'll both sleep on the floor."
