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Soo Yeon returned to his room three hours later.  After she took a much-needed bath.  And a short nap.  Crying was exhausting.  Then she ate a light luncheon. 

She breezed into his room as the sun was burning brightly at its zenith.  She disturbed her mother standing at the window.  Staring out at the beautiful day blooming beyond that room.  That fine lady glanced up in surprise at her.

“Where have you been?” she asked, a little more sharply than she’d intended.

Soo Yeon swallowed as her eyes slid towards the gentleman lying in the bed.

“Is he asleep?” she queried lightly.

“He is.”

“I don’t understand why he’s still so exhausted.  I expected him to be up.  Walking around by now.”

“Soo Yeon,” again her voice was sharp.  This time with rebuke.  “The boy was lanced through the thigh.  His muscles must be greatly inflamed still.  He is in a considerable amount of pain.”

The girl nodded as her eyes filled with tears.

“So the doctor is still giving him medication to make him sleepy.  Anything to distract him from his discomfort.”

Soo Yeon studied his face.

“You did not answer my question.”

She sighed before responding to her mother.  “I went to my room to bathe.  And I ate something after taking a nap.”

The older woman scrutinized her daughter’s countenance.  “Did you return here after your walk in the garden?”

“I did,” she answered truthfully.

“Then, you left him alone?”

“I did,” she echoed.

“Why?”

“Because I was angry with him.”

“Why?” her mother’s voice sounded softly this time.

Soo Yeon shifted her gaze to his mouth.  “Because he doesn’t want me anymore,” she mourned quietly.

Lady Bit Na cocked her delicate eyebrows.  “Did he say so?”

“Not in so many words.  But a girl knows when her beau no longer desires her.”

The grand lady peered into her daughter’s face for several silent moments.  “Were you alone with him here?  In this room?”

Soo Yeon bobbed her head.

Had her daughter kissed the man?  And had he rejected her?

Perplexed, Lady Bit Na wasn’t certain what to say to comfort her only daughter.  “I am sorry that you feel that way, Soo Yeon.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied flatly.  “Appa will never let me marry him anyway.”

She moved towards the chair and plopped down into it. “But that won’t stop me from taking care of him while I can.”  She leaned forward and readjusted the blanket that her mother had tucked in around his shoulders.

Lady Bit Na didn’t miss the tear that slid down the young woman’s cheek.