"Miss, the accounting book you asked for is in your room...and the doctor is..." Seohwa trailed off when she saw the looks the ladies were giving her. Yoona also observed the stares and edged closer questioning them with her eyes.
Mtcheew! the first woman sighed in resignation. The other women looked at themselves deliberating whether to give the young master's message in the presence of their young miss or call her out privately. Seohwa couldn't take it anymore and questioned them.
"OK ...time is up. Why all the stares ? Did I take anybody's tofu?" she raised her hand and placed it on her waist while waiting for them to respond.
Curiosity was also riding Yoona that she also asked them what was going on.
"Aigoo! beautiful miss, whatever happens just know that we will root for you" the woman making rice cakes tried to soothe her miss with the notion that her man is trying to double date with her maidservant. The other one quick to anger decided to take matters into her own hands and stood up.
"Miss, that bastard don't deserve you and if he tries to hurt you in anyway I will make sure to castrate him"
The third woman choked on her food and started coughing. Patting her chest, she admonished the other lady on using obscene word in the presence of their miss.
"Whoa! everybody calm down and tell me what happened" Seohwa felt that things were getting interesting.
A woman started narrating what happened earlier while searching her face for any form of emotion. She became stupefied when she saw smiles plastered on her miss face.
Yoona looked at Seohwa turning tomato red and couldn't contain herself anymore. She broke into laughter while holding her stomach. Seohwa felt cheated and huffed. Looking at her miss happy face at the expense of her misery , she blurted out the truth and shocked the whole women.
The women broke into their own session of laughter. They have finally learned the truth and the truth is something way too hilarious.
So the young master thinks their miss name is Seohwa? Using the back of their palm to wipe away the tears on their faces due to laughter, they prepared the young master's meal cheerfully and placed it on Seohwa's hand resisting the urge to laugh at the sight of her face.
Seohwa looked at her miss who was looking at the roof of their house pretending to be lost in her thought.
"Miss, can l not go ?"
Yoona finally looked down at her face and smiled.
"Dear bestie ... what's the fun of me going when he clearly asked for 'Seohwa'? , right aunties?" the women nodded while enjoying the plight of the poor girl.
Seohwa gave up on them all and strode towards the beach kicking up the dirt on her path.
At the beach, prince Song closed his eyes while inhaling the salty breeze of the sea. He is asking himself if Seohwa will come or not. It's almost sunset but she's nowhere to be found.
At last, he felt someone coming behind him. Judging from the sound of the footsteps it's definitely a female, his Seohwa.
With eyes still closed, he smiled while waiting for her to come closer. When he felt her stop behind him, he decided to talk to her.
"I know you will come, dear Seohwa"
Seohwa brittled on how the young master knew it was her until she remembered that he was referring to her miss.
She whispered in a high falsetto attempting to mimic her miss's voice telling him she just came to bring his meal because someone forced her to .
Prince Song was happy to hear her speak to him but he wondered why the voice seemed a little bit off to his hearing. Ignoring the doubt, he told her the story of their first meeting in the capital.
Seohwa's memory got to work and she remembered the young master that kicked her miss's dumpling in the market and blushed hard. No wonder he looked familiar the first day she saw him at their house.
"Miss Seohwa, l know that you might not remember me but that meeting was life-changing. I couldn't do anything without thinking about you. In my dreams, it's you l always see... I know you might say I'm obsessed with you because of your beauty but far from it, you are the only one that has made my heart beat faster ,My dear Seohwa, give me the chance to prove it to you".
Seohwa held tightly to her heart that started pounding in her chest. She knows the confession is not for her but maybe because he called her name while saying that, she couldn't control her own breathing and heartbeat.
Getting no response from the lady behind, his own heart started beating erratically due to fear, fear of rejection. In his whole life, he has always been rejected by those he loved but he's not sure if his heart will take her rejection.
For a damn one year , one face haunted him. He had used all his resources to search for her but it seemed like she disappeared into thin air. While searching for her, he curtailed his behaviors . Stopped drinking and even avoided women like plague. He believed they would meet again so he didn't want her meeting him with another woman or even drinking.
He opened his eyes and exhaled, boosting his courage with the notion that he will try again even she rejects him outrightly, he turned.
*Gasps*
"Oh my gosh! What... Why is it you?" he maintained more distance between them while searching for any sign of his goddess.
Seohwa smiled at him and brought down the basket of food from her head. Prince Song gawked at her like a hawk observing the prey and finally said something.
"Did she send you?" Seohwa nodded.
He walked past her , the sunset forgotten. He has never attached any importance to sunset but because he wanted to spend time with her , he used it as an excuse. Now, his efforts are now useless.
Seohwa called out to him but he ignored her . She took the basket and chased the man that started running towards home.
Looking up from her book, Yoona saw him running towards them his face flushed bright red. He looked at her and brushed past begging the ground to swallow him.
His first attempt at confession was directed to a wrong girl . Embarrassment threatened to blind him as he slammed his door shut holding it tightly as if trying to wade off the imaginary chasers that might try to barge into his room.
Certain that no one was at his heels, he exhaled deeply and walked towards his bed to sit down. At that instant , he heard laughter erupting outside and his blush turned crimson.
Seohwa also ran in panting, the women surrounded her immediately trying to fish out information from her. Yoona encourage her to tell them what happened and she blurted out "He confessed to me... erm...l mean it's for miss" she placed down the basket.
The women broke down in laughter while imagining his face when he turned to see it was another girl he confessed to.
Hearing the laughter outside, he hid his head with his pillow silently uttering curses under his breath for his stupidity. He should have turned before confessing he blamed himself.
Seohwa dragged her miss to one corner and whispered ."I remember him , he was the young master we met in the market when we were buying dumplings, he even promised to pay you for your loss when your dumpling fell on the ground... Miss, don't you remember him?"
Yoona strained her memory to remember but she couldn't. She tried again and saw a vague scene that resembled the narration of Seohwa but she couldn't make out the face of the person. Giving up on trying, she patted Seohwa's back , smiling and telling her to enjoy the fun while it still last then she walked into her room trying to recheck their account book for any error.
Seohwa's heart bled when she recalls that unless the young master learns her miss true name , she will always be used as a substitute for her miss. Glaring at the women, they all scampered out to the kitchen tidying up the kitchen utensils while avoiding her gaze.