Chapter 67

They appreciated each other’s warm considerations by gladly coming out in the rain to meet. As they wKyosul saw the front outer gate in front of the outer garden. The hard ground turned soft and covered with grass, and the grass and trees nearby were soaked with rain. After passing by them, she saw a hill in the center.

She stopped suddenly. Somebody was standing under the big tree in the center of the hill. On a rainy day like this, when it was raining so heavily as if the heavens opened, she could think of only one person standing there: Ruhae.

Without hiding her joy on her face, she walked toward him. He approached her quickly as if he also noticed her.

“Kyousul!”

What she touched first was the cold collar of his clothes, but she could feel his warm body in no time. Both greeted each other with great joy.

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“How come you came here, only wearing such a thin raincoat in this heavy rain?”

“What were you doing here then without even putting on a raincoat?”

“Of course, I was waiting for you, Kyosul.”

“That’s why I came running here.”

She looked up at him with a smile. Rain drops were coming down his smiling face. He quietly raised his hand to wipe them away in vain.

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“Come to think of it, this kind of downpour has one advantage.”

The moment she was going to ask what it was, he suddenly took her raincoat and covered her and himself with it.

The purple raincoat was large enough to cover both of them, but not convenient enough for them to stand together inside. In order to share it without being exposed to the heavy rain, Kyosul had to get close to him.

Though her silk dress was wet, she could feel his warmth. She blushed.

“It’s good that there were few people in the palace because of this heavy rain, and it’s much better if we cover our bodies with the raincoat, so nobody can recognize who we are and what we’re doing, ” he whispered into her ears in a cozy voice.

She blushed at his words and felt as if her whole body was getting heated. Her hands holding his sleeves were so warm she felt like he would notice it quickly. She looked at him quickly and burst into laughter.

He was blushing, too. Though he whispered so softly, he, too, was shy at that moment. Both of them were familiar to each other but felt awkward.

When she laughed, he got embarrassed and came out from under the raincoat. He held the collar closed, trapping her in the raincoat. She struggled to get out of it, but found it hard to get out.

She called, “Ruhae! What did you do?”

“As you are laughing at me like that, I can’t hug you anymore.”

“You’re getting rained on. You might catch a cold!”

“Now that my body is already so warm, I think I have already caught a cold.”

She found herself stuck in the raincoat as she couldn’t move because he held closed.

Then she stopped struggling for a moment and jumped into his arms.

“Oops!”

As she suddenly jumped into his arms, he fell backward. She fell on top of him with the raincoat on.

“That serves your right!”

She grasped the closure of the raincoat and pulled it open. After taking it off, she covered him with the raincoat. Once he was covered, she raced to the tree on the hill like a child. By the time she got there and caught her breath, he had already stood up with the raincoat in hand. He approached her through the heavy rain.

The big tree was grand and lush with green leaves. Thanks to the lush leaves of the tree, they avoided the rain. With a bashful smile, she sat down beneath it. Though her clothes were dirty from the mud, she didn’t care. He sat beside her and covered her with the raincoat.

“I’m all wet, so this raincoat is useless now.”

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“If anybody comes to find you, they might speak ill of you behind your back.”

“Same to you, Ruhae.”

Saying that, she opened the coat and put one side of it on his shoulder. Smiling at each other silently, they drew closer to share the raincoat.

It was so peaceful.

They felt even the heavy raindrops were soft because they were together.

They felt so good about spending their time together that they didn’t stop laughing for a while.

ent through many ups and downs to come this far, they got closer to each other quickly.

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After hesitating for a moment, Ruhae took her little hands in his big hands. Her face was red like camellia flowers. As they were soaked with rain, it was meaningless to put on the raincoat. As they had no use of the raincoat, they used it to cover their bodies. Seen at a distance, it looked like a colorful raincoat was hanging on the tree. They sat, still shy toward each other, with their hands folded together gently.

His hands were so warm that all she could focus on were his hands.

She managed her breathing out of fear that it might sound loud to him. He didn’t move his hands. He plucked up courage enough to hold her hands, but once he held her hands, he didn’t know what to do next. He was sensitive to her every move now.

They became tense and nervous while looking at each other.

He was about to turn his head towards her slowly when she sneezed suddenly.

Her sudden sneezing broke the strange silence between them.

Smiling at her helplessly, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Oh my god! You might catch a cold.”

“No, I just sneezed as the wind tickled my nose.”

Embarrassed by her own loud sneezing, she gave a funny excuse.

But he just nodded at it and said, “You bet.”

Soaked from the rain, she trembled. He noticed it and wrapped his arm around her shoulders gently. Blushing, she was snugly wrapped in his arms. Though it was only a raincoat, it covered them pretty well.

They were satisfied with the fact that they were together, hugging each other and looking at each other with a smile on their faces. They were more than satisfied. As long as they could maintain their fidelity to each other like this, they were happy.

They didn’t ask for more, nor should they.

They were well aware that if they asked for more than this, they could be severely punished.

‘But I want more than this, Kyosul.’

He tightened his grip on her shoulders.

Though the heavy downpour didn’t stop, the big tree protected them from the rain.

The sound of raindrops tickled her ears. She felt as if the sound was coming from a faraway place. When she closed her eyes, she conjured up the image of fog rising softly.

The raincoat with its outer fabric made of silk was rather thick. Ruhae and Kyosul were covering their bodies with it in the rain. Over them was a giant broadleaf tree rising high in the sky, boasting of its magnificent grandeur. Leaning against its trunk, about 6 meters wide, they got close to each other.

Feeling his warmth on her hands, she whispered, “I feel very strange.”

“Why do you feel that way?”

“Well, I mean the whole situation surrounding how we met. I just can’t believe how the biggest surprise of my life could happen to me so quickly.”

Was it because of the rain? They felt separated from the world because of the sound of rain around them, so they could be more frank toward each other and focus on each other.

She felt comfortable and relaxed when she was with him. This moment with him was everything to her.

As if he favorably responded to her bashful confession, he held her hands tightly and caressed each of her thin and small fingers as if to remember the feeling of all her fingers.

“This is also the most surprising thing to me.”He tilted his head, touching his wet forehead to her wet hair. “Most surprising things like me meeting you, knowing you and longing for you.”

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He threaded his fingers with hers and continued, “And more than anything else, I’m so surprised and happy to know that you and I are of one mind and one heart.”

“I’m happy…”

Kyosul repeated what he said to her.

Happiness.

She never thought of this adorable word until recently. She repeated it several times.

“I’m happy, too. My heart is beating wildly.”

Her heart was beating so wildly she felt as if her whole body was trembling while she was with him. She found her heart beating hard when she was with him or when she conjured up his image, but she had never experienced this kind of feeling.

She tightened her grip on his hands.

She turned her head to him as he looked at her. Their gazes met.

Once they clasped their hands, with their eyes fixed at each other, they wanted to stay put like that.