The young weaver found himself begging to be let in to his mentor's chamber, the warm tears reddening his snow white skin. Once he saw the silhouette of his mentor slowly move to slide open the door, Iseul began wiping his tears on his sleeve, hoping he'd be let in.
Once Tae Kim saw his pupil knelt down in front of him with his straw slippers in his hand, he knew what time it was, it wasn't the first time a student came back from the prince's chambers in tears and utterly agonized.
Iseul was let in as he immediately prepared him some ginseng tea to soothe this poor soul's stress and pain.
Iseul blabbered out what he was feeling, the fear and stress. Tae Kim knew all too well how the prince could make people feel, when he was still an unauthorized weaver, he went through the same thing himself, which made him wonder.
"He didn't touch you, did he?" his mentor asked which made Iseul think whether he should answer this "...Yes" he mumbled out "Not the way you think though!" Iseul cleared up. Tae Kim's eyes furrowed "Do not speak of this... Iseul," Iseul was shocked at what his mentor just said.
"If he ever touches you inappropriately, do not speak of it, ever. Do you understand?" Tae Kim repeated himself.
Iseul's chest began to tighten up as he looked down at his cup of tea, watching his reflection ripple at the touch of his breath "this is for your own safety," his mentor elaborated on his reasoning for his advice.
The young weaver tried to understand why, but deep inside he couldn't find any reason for this to be silenced, shouldn't someone of such high ranking be held accountable?
Or in this time and place... Exposed for laying a finger on someone as low as him, even if it was just a small touch.
Tae Kim glanced over at his pupil, it hurt him telling his pupil to silence himself about such harmful subjects. The mentor reached out to wipe away a tear from Iseul's cheek, but the boy moved his head away from him.
Had he failed his pupil? Had he lost all trust in him? He understood how he felt and only Tae Kim himself was the only one to blame for that, he knew he should've accompanied this young individual on his first journey to the prince.
Iseul abruptly stood up with his tea cup still full, untouched by his plump and soft lips.
The young weaver gave his mentor a bow before silently leaving his hanok, he wanted to rest. He sure knew he had a long day to fight through tomorrow, especially after yet another grand escape from Jun-Suk.
It took Iseul quite a while to find the hanok where the students were assigned to reside for their stay during their education of weaving. He lightly slid his finger over the wall's nameplates until he paused by a door with his name, 'Iseul Yoon.'
He quietly entered his room and was met by a surprisingly pleasant smell of a censer with lavender scent.
He always loved lavender, it made him think back of the time he'd run around in a field of lavender together with his mother, bees flying all around together with various types of pollen that fell from the trees all around. Oh how he missed his mother...
Iseul undressed for bed, leaving his dirty clothes by the door for the maidens to pick up in the morning before slipping on the thin beige night gown.
The sleeping mat was quite hard, but it didn't lay as bad as he expected, if anything, it was quite comfortable after getting used to it after a while.
He read a lot about the health benefits these sleeping mats would serve their owner, he figured now is the time to truly put it to the test.
It didn't take long for Iseul to fall asleep while shedding yet another tear for his time away from his comfortable home, from his best friend and worst of all, his sick mother who was probably waiting for his visit at the hospital to proudly show his new projects.
Every now and then he'd wake up, charging to sit up with sweat dripping down his skin to stain his robes, why did that prince have to be everywhere he went, even in his dreams...
Every corner he turned, he would be standing there... Every person who turned to look at him, they wore his eyes and chiseled face.
The next time he was woken up by the sun shining in his face, together with eager knocking on his door by a fellow student. "Iseul! Iseul! Someone's looking for you!" the voice went on and on until a fully dressed Iseul carefully slid open the door.
"Who..?" Iseul asked, lightly chewing on his bottom lip, who could possibly be looking for him other than Tae Kim who would likely want to apologize for those hurtful words. But then...
"The prince's personal guard!" he froze "The lord himself loved your art!" the other student continued until the door slammed shut in his face.
No. He wasn't gonna go through it again, or perhaps worse. If he could, he'd hide in his room forever, but he knew he wouldn't be able to as anyone who was brave enough to turn down a prince's request would meet their death.
Eventually he gathered all his courage and walked outside in new attire, lightly fiddling a lose string that hung from his ruffled up sleeve, its previous owner sure wore this one out.
The personal guard was given the description of a boy with a face as sweet as honey, lips as plump as a rosebud and a demeanor as sheepish as a child having their first performance with an instrument in front of a crowd.
Iseul stepped towards the guard as many students watched, circling around, truly curious about the sudden visit and request.
"Milord has chosen you to be..." the guard began the order...