ゆっくり私残す

5. s t a y

The days passed by quickly and the days quickly melted into weeks. Not much happened since Jaeha decided to stay. They were both easy-going people.

Yeon stayed with her routine and it was only that she had to cook for two now. And that she had someone to talk to. Hell, she felt giddy every time she said goodnight or good morning.

When was the last time she had someone to live with her? Someone, to accompany her?

She had the pirates and she had the pleasure house. Yeon wanted to be with both but she couldn't while forsaking the other. Besides the reason that she needed to forage, the other reason why she chose to live where she did was so that she could go into town and see the pirates whenever.

Jaeha may be a funny guy but Yeon like him a lot so far. She might even miss him lots whenever he decides to leave.

Ducking her way through the crowd, Yeon made her way towards the pleasure house to drop off her next load. A small frown began forming on her face.

As for Jaeha.. The man frequented the town more often. Thankfully, he didn't have any more run-ins with the soldiers since he rescued Buyeo.

She liked that he stood up for what he felt was right but he couldn't seem to understand that by retaliating in town would only result in more distress.

Sighing, she pushed open the doors to the pleasure house. She was greeted with a blast of incense, some from the room and some from the women wearing them.

"Hey." Yeon greeted the first woman, Juna, as she set down the basket. "Is Eulji available?"

Juna's expression brightened when she saw that it was Yeon. She skipped over and wrapped Yeon in a hug. "It's good to see you!" She pulled back and shook her head. "Eulji is out right now, but she should be back soon. Just wait for a bit."

Yeon sighed but nodded. "Sure, we could catch up until she's here."

Without wasting another moment, Juna pulled Yeon to the side. Yeon followed, and to her confusion, more girls came out of nowhere and flocked the duo.

"There's something I've been wondering about.." Juna glanced around before smirking. "Rather, something we've been wondering about."

Yeon's brow creased. "What is it?"

"How did you score someone like Jaeha?" Juna's voice raised to a squeal. "He's so fine!"

The girls around them mumbled in agreement. Many wore blushes, but most of their eyes were trained on Yeon, expecting her answer.

A blush raced onto her cheeks and Yeon shook her head, waving her hand while she was at it. "You guys are still about that?!" The other females nodded and Yeon rolled her eyes. "Jaeha is a friend of mine. We aren't in the kind of relationship you guys are thinking of."

Some girls sighed in relief and Yeon's nose crinkled in irritation. Honestly, don't they have anything else to do?

"So it won't matter if I were to ask him to the Water Festival right?"

"No fair! I was going to ask him!"

Yeon blinked. "Festival?"

Juna merely sighed in disappointment. "You're always out of the loop, Yeon. If you're like this, what men would be interested in someone as slow-witted as you are?" Yeon sniffed in offense but Juna ignored her.

"Summer starts next week! Awa Port throws a festival to celebrate the arrival of the hot season. Sounds familiar?"

Yeon absorbed the new information before snapping her fingers. "Is it the one where everyone plays with a ton of water?" When the girls around her nodded, Yeon brightened. "Oh, that festival is fun! When is it?"