The Kinsman

Dan Se stared in consternation at her chest of drawers.  His clothes were in her room.  Her new room.  His room.  At least, he had thought it was now his…

She lay for several long minutes, her eyes closed, recalling the tender touch of his fingertips on her bruised skin in the middle of the night.  She dredged up every…

She awoke to sunlight.  And an unfamiliar bed.  An empty bed.She had lain awake in this bed for what had felt like hours last night.  Waiting for him to return. …

A few moments later, Dan Se slipped into his room.  He didn’t bother to light a lamp.  He knew his way to the bed.  So he slipped out of his…

After Jung Sook left her, Mi Sook lay on her bed as the healing salve soaked into her skin and pondered all the things which her friend had told her. …

Mi Sook turned over onto her side and stared in astonishment at Jung Sook.“What on earth would make you say such a thing?”Jung Sook’s face melted in tenderness.  “He came…

A knock sounded on her door.  About an hour after her husband had left her.  Mi Sook tensed.  Had Dan Se returned for her?Should she pretend to be asleep?She sighed…

“I understand,” he murmured.  Not looking at her.  “But…this is your room now.  I will stay in the other room.”He climbed off the bed and walked over to the chest…

He gazed in horror at the tears flooding her eyes before they spilled down her rosy cheeks.  He hadn’t meant to hurt her.  But for Mi Sook to weep, he…

But after a few precious moments, she groaned against his lips.  Immediately, he withdrew from her.“What’s wrong?”“My back is spasming.”  She winced and fell forward onto him, flattening him into…