"Hold on!" you found yourself running toward Jinyoung, stopping by his side, facing the crowd. "It's a mistake. No one hold me hostage. See? I can even walk freely on my own. I'm here on my own will. And I'll leave when I finished with my duty."
"What duty? You're not married with him, what duty do you possibly have, sweetie?" Aston mocked you and you wanted to slap him so bad. You had to resist yourself not to charge forward and slapped his bad mouth. He dared to bring the crowd here, after what he said about you around the village. He badmouthed you when you declined his proposal. He even insulted your father. And now, he dared to accuse Jinyoung.
"Go home Aston. I stand by my word. I'll stay here until I finish my responsibility. And last time I check, I'm no one resposibility, so I'll decide for myself. And please, don't threaten my dad. Everyone can see that you forced my dad to say things that you want to hear," you retorted and it hit his nerves. You saw his face red by anger and muttered a curse. You were about to shout some more when you felt a hand on your arm, Jinyoung's.
"Go inside, it will turn ugly in minutes. Bring Mrs. Potts and the rest of the workers with you. There's this back door, my butler will lead you. Run as fast as you can," he murmured on your ear.
"What about you? Surely you can't face them alone," you asked and he just smiled.
"It's okay, I have my way. This is my home after all. I have to defend it," Jinyoung squeezed your hand lightly. "Don't worry, just save Mrs. Potts and the rest and I'll come after you as fast as I can. Then ask one of the male worker to retrieve your dad from the crowd. Head back to your house. I'll find a way to find you," he pushed you towards Mrs. Potts and made sure you went inside the house with Mrs.Potts before he made his way toward the angry crowd.
You did as he told you, and together all of you managed to get back to the safety of your house. Your dad immediately apologized and it was just like you thought. They forced him to say bad stuff about Jinyoung. Accusing him of holding you hostage and brought the whole village to storm Jinyoung's house. You stared at the dark sky worriedly. Jinyoung hasn't arrived yet. Some of the workers decided to go home to their own house and told you that they would come back the next morning. You felt the uneasiness grow as you saw smoke coming from Jinyoung's house direction.
"Look dad, something is off. I need to find some information," you told your dead, grabbing your coat and headed back outside. You managed to grab one of the chatty girl that walked past and asked her if she heard something.
"Aston burnt the house down. And now they are celebrating at the pub," she told you. You felt blood drained from your face. Jinyoung. Your feet started to walk on its own toward Jinyoung's house. You saw with your own eyes that part of the mansion was burnt. But it was still there. The gate was opened, so you walked inside quietly. Rubbles were scattered on the ground, smoke smell was still heavy in the air. You coughed a bit but still walked forward.
"Jinyoung!" you called but you heard nothing. You kept going on into the house, calling out Jinyoung's name but still nothing. You tried to find him everywhere but he seemed vanished. You went back to the house and questioned Mrs. Potts. But according to her, Jinyoung had no other family in the village nor any friends. Mrs. Potts was the longest in the house and she never saw him being friendly with anyone, until you. She stayed at your house along with the butler, but even the next day, there was still no words from Jinyoung.
It's been a week since the incident. Aston had the nerve to show up and proposed you again, saying that no one else wanted to give you another chance aside from him and you should be thankful for that, but you spat, saying that you'd rather die than being married with him. With that, he slapped you and left you after saying that you were one ungrateful bitch. You went back to your routine, helping your dad. Luckily the measles plague had come to the end. Everyone seemed to recover now. Mrs. Potts and the butler kept staying at your place, helping with the herb and medicinal remedy so you could accompany your dad doing his house visits.
