While walking to the market with Seungju over the weekend, Eunseo received a call on her phone – a rare tip about her missing brother.
“Yes, I am the sister of the missing person. Where did you see him?”
The description somewhat matched, but on further explanation, the impression and attire differed. Eunho had no large birthmark on his wrist and didn’t have asymmetrical earlobes.
“It doesn’t seem like my brother. Thank you for calling anyway. It might be good to report it to the police.”
Such instances weren’t new to her, and they always left her feeling empty. After ending the call and sighing, Seungju, carrying the shopping bag, cautiously asked,
“What happened?”
“Just someone thought they saw Eunho working like a servant in a rural house. But it doesn’t seem like him.”
Thanks to her continuous efforts with flyers and banners, she occasionally received such tips, but none had ever been accurate.
“I’ve been everywhere – to islands, mountains, seas, you name it. I’ve even been to prayer houses several times to check on people held captive.”
“People are still held captive nowadays?”
Seungju asked, surprised.
“Yes, even now. Back then, I heard about people being confined in prayer houses or sold to work in coffee shops on islands. But even today, similar things happen.”
“I see…”
“Even normal people get trapped, you know?”
Eunseo suddenly recalled a story.
“I once secretly freed someone.”
A couple of years ago, she received a tip about someone held captive in a prayer house. The police weren’t helpful in such situations; they needed a search warrant to enter and wouldn’t obtain one without solid evidence of Eunho being there.
So, as she had done several times before, Eunseo infiltrated the prayer house, pretending to be an entrant. Sneaking out at night, she discovered a person actually locked up in a cell-like cage with shackles.
Fortunately, the keys were hanging outside the cell. Upon entering, she found not Eunho, but a woman who appeared much older, almost 50, with her hair cut short and terribly thin – a stark contrast to the nineteen-year-old Eunho.
As Eunseo was about to leave, the woman, whom she thought was asleep, suddenly grabbed her. The woman’s grip was surprisingly strong.
“Miss, please unchain me. I’m not insane.”
Despite her skeletal appearance, her eyes shone with an intense will.
Reminded of her own deceased mother’s eyes filled with unresolved resentment and a sense of a mission to be accomplished – much like how her mother looked after losing Eunho – Eunseo decided to help.
Even if the woman was insane, it was illegal to confine someone against their will, especially with shackles.
Eunseo bravely unlocked the shackles.
“Can you walk? Hold onto my arm.”
The woman, weak from prolonged captivity, couldn’t walk properly. Helping the barely mobile woman out of the prayer house, Eunseo felt extremely scared. It felt like someone might chase after them at any moment.
She managed to get the woman safely out and took her to a bus terminal.
“And what happened after that?”
“I don’t know. I headed back to Seoul, and she said she was going down south, so I bought her a ticket, and we parted ways at the terminal.”
Shivering, Eunseo recalled her visits to various places with her mother since her childhood, but that place was one she really did not want to revisit.
“Why didn’t you just call the police? It was dangerous.”
“The police couldn’t do much, whether they didn’t want to or couldn’t.”
Eunseo had been to countless places in search of Eunho: cult facilities, prayer houses, temples, etc. She had learned that police power was surprisingly weak. Even if they knew someone was locked up inside, without a warrant, they couldn’t do anything about it.
“You should watch ‘I’ll Tell You’ sometime. The police can’t do anything even when they know someone’s trapped inside. Only after the broadcast does a commotion arise, and then they finally take action.”
“Is ‘I’ll Tell You’ still on air?”
Seungju asked, surprised.
“Of course. ‘But the thing is.'”
Eunseo gestured with open palms, imitating the show’s host, but Seungju seemed clueless.
“You don’t know it?”
“No clue.”
“Who do you remember as the MC?”
As they realized they remembered different hosts, Eunseo thought to herself about the generation gap.
Lost in conversation, they arrived at the market.
As usual, Seungju was popular with the market ladies. Eunseo even exploited his popularity.
“It’s too expensive. My husband loves this.”
When she said this, the ladies would give her a discount, even if it meant selling at a loss.
On the way out of the market, Seungju curiously asked,
“Why do the ladies keep giving us things?”
He asked while munching on a hot bar given by a fishcake vendor. Eunseo chuckled and replied,
“Because you’re handsome.”
“Me?”
Seungju pointed at his own face, genuinely surprised, which surprised Eunseo even more.
“Don’t you look in the mirror?”
“I used to be told I was handsome… but now I just look like an old man.”
He said gloomily.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
