Chapter 121 - Mere Gossips [1]

It all started with mere gossips.

When Moon Jiwoo was able to take a turn to go over to her bedroom, she did not expect to hear the maids talk about her. Instinctively, hearing her name caused her to hide behind a wall.

Wondering what they were discussing about, she leaned further and remained inconspicuous in order to not arise anyone's caution. Although she was used to people talking about her, it did not imply that she wasn't curious at times.

"That Shin Daerin is such a bitch!" one of the maids exclaimed.

Hearing those words caused Moon Jiwoo's eyes to widen, and raising her hand, she placed it over her mouth to suppress in all the noise.

The angry coupled with those words managed to shock Moon Jiwoo. She hadn't done anything outrageous to evoke such reaction from the maids. Unlike Junghwa, she bȧrėly kept a maid around her.

In her last life, she would have understood it if the maids gossiped negatively about her since she deserved that due to her behaviour. But right now, she hadn't done anything like that. Therefore, it didn't make sense to her.

"Exactly! How can she be like that to Miss Junghwa!? Miss Junghwa was just trying to be polite to her yet that Daerin is trying to abuse her."

"How can someone even bear to do that with someone as sweet as Miss Junghwa? She is completely delusional!"

"The other day I have heard about how she bragged to Miss Junghwa on how his Majesty belongs to her. How nonsensical is that!"

"True! Just because she protected his Majesty a little doesn't mean that he is obligated to her! It's most likely that she is forcing his Majesty about everything."

"That haughtiness of hers will soon be going away when she recognizes her position. Leader Han definitely supports Miss Junghwa along with the mistress Han. There is no way his Majesty will be disobeying them."

"That's true. Miss Junghwa definitely won the support of both of them, and with that, it's enough to ensure her position at here. There is no way that Daerin would be able to do anything."

"The other day I saw her hanging around with Master Jihoon," a maid said, "Isn't that completely disgusting!?"

"I am pretty sure that they planning something nasty together. Miss Junghwa wanted to warn her about Master Jihoon, but that Daerin just pushed her away harshly."

If it wasn't for how shocked Jiwoo was, she would have confronted all of those maids and yelled at them. But currently, she was too baffled to move from her position.

She wondered where things had gone wrong.

It was understandable in her last life. She was rude to everyone to begin with, but over here, it was a different case. She made an effort to not arise the hatred of other people. Although she offended quite a few people, she didn't think it would be this serious.

About Junghwa's case, Jiwoo could not see what wrong she had done. Moon Jiwoo didn't like Junghwa, and that's why, she did not want to hang out with her.

In her mind, there was nothing wrong with that. Just because of Junghwa's persistency, she was slightly harsh at times, but it wasn't anything intense. She did not hold any faults.

This was too complicated for Jiwoo to comprehend. She thought that as long as she behaved amiably with others, the results would be good. But it appeared that she was being too naive.

Regardless of how many times she had repeated in her mind that she was numb to all of these, in the end, that wasn't the case. She was still affected by the negativity.

Jiwoo's body trembled as she wrapped her hands around herself. Her knees were starting to get weak. Even though the maids were long gone from that place, she was unable to compose herself. Her mind was at a messy state right now. She was at a loss of idea on how to react.

That's when, she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

Taken aback by that, she turned back and saw Oh Sookyung behind her. Seeing how pale Jiwoo's face was caused him to widen his eyes.

Instantly, Moon Jiwoo pulled him into a hug. Surprised when Jiwoo wrapped her hands around him, he did not hesitate to hug the woman back, seeing how desperately she needed one right now.

Slowly, he patted his hand on her back as if trying to comfort her. He wanted to say something but held back his tongue, not knowing the correct words for the moment.

Very rarely did he see her break down like that, and faced with such a situation, he was at a loss on what to do. Nonetheless, his ċhėst squeezed painfully, and he wanted to take that pain away from her.

"What's the matter?" he questioned softly.

Although he would not be minding it and might take care of the maids, Jiwoo did not wish to do that. Plus this would not be guaranteeing that the maids would not be gossiping about her.

This would only be growing their hatred towards her, and they would be taking negatively behind her back in more of a inconspicuous position. There was no way to prevent them from talking about her.

"No," Jiwoo said, "Nothing happened. Would you believe me if I say that I just felt emotional randomly?"

Moon Jiwoo felt tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Hugs were really warm and comforting. In her last life, she had no one to hug her when the world turned its back on her. But this time around, that wasn't the case.

She trusted in Sookyung to be there by her side even if everyone hated her and the sense of security he provided her with.

That's why, she would be fine from this.

"Is that so? Then, let out all of your emotions," he voiced out, "You don't have to hold them in and suffer."

"Promise me one thing, Oh Sookyung. That you will never be betraying me, and you can't hate me regardless of what I do," she said.

"Hmm," he vocalised, "That goes without saying. I promise you."

"I will go crazy and kill you if you break that promise of yours," she threatened.

"How little trust do you have in me?" he asked before adding, "You are so helpless without me. How can I even abandon you?"

"You are not a trustworthy guy," she said, "You are what they refer to when they say that men can not be trusted, but I will believe you this once."

Oh Sookyung could see how vulnerable and fragile she appeared as those words escaped from her mouth. Those aroused his protective instincts. He wanted to lock her away and protect her from everything in the outside world.

"I thought that I already changed that image in your mind," he voiced out, "I have become a better man now."

A chuckle escaped from his mouth.

Moon Jiwoo pulled away from the hug, and although the corner of her eyes had tears shining, she stared at him with mock in her eyes.

"As if I haven't heard the rumors on how you lately deceived all those people. You are being called wolf in sheep's clothing, sly fox, and worst things. Do I need to list all of your new nicknames?" she raised one of her eyebrows.

"It's nice to see that you are back to your normal state, and when one is as smart as me, they are unable to help it," Sookyung vocalised.

"Smart has nothing to do with how cunning you have become. But at least all of them calls you a good king. Although you are a sly fox, you managed to win the heart of the people. That's the biggest thing," she said, "I feel envious and proud of you."

Bringing his hand over to her face, he wiped away the tears from her eyes and spoke out, "About winning people's heart, it's not a hard thing if you are smart enough."

"Are you trying to brag at here?" Jiwoo rolled her eyes.

One thing Jiwoo was completely aware of at that very moment was how quickly her heart was beating within her ċhėst and she was unable to tear her eyes off of him. Although he wasn't doing anything special in the moment, he seemed to be completely mesmerizing to her.

Without her knowing, his position in her heart was updated.

"Is that how you take it to be? You have something to brag about as well— about how you stole my heart away."

She just scoffed.