"No, I won't look."
"Really... for real?"
"If you're going to doubt me, I'm just leaving?"
"No! Don't go..."
A small lake they had found after much difficulty.
With her calves submerged in the lake, Dang Soran swallowed hard and steeled herself.
Washing outdoors was a first for her.
She knew well that this was commonplace for common folk, but Dang Soran, raised in luxury, had never experienced it.
The very act of undressing outside felt utterly shameful.
"Y-Young Master...! You're still there, right?"
She called out toward the trees outside the lake, but no answer came back.
"Y-Young Master!!"
Thinking Han Seojin had left, Dang Soran grabbed her hem and started to step out...
"Hurry up, just do it."
She could breathe a sigh of relief at Han Seojin's returning voice.
Even if he sounded impatient, just hearing his voice was better.
"W-What if someone comes? You have to block them!"
"How many times do I have to say it... No one's wandering around at this hour. No one's here, so wash quickly."
"..."
Dang Soran hesitantly shed her clothes layer by layer.
With each layer that thinned, the cool breeze began to stimulate her body more intensely.
It was maddeningly embarrassing, yet an equal sense of liberation washed over her.
A refreshing breeze blew across her chest.
In the end, Dang Soran stripped off all her clothes and quickly dunked her body into the lake.
Not warm bathwater, but nature's cool water.
At that cold, stimulating sensation, a natural smile flowed across Dang Soran's face.
It was her first time, but it felt surprisingly refreshing.
She meticulously washed her face and hair, her back and stomach, under her breasts, arms, legs, and everywhere else.
Suddenly wondering if Han Seojin was watching, she glanced his way... but Han Seojin wasn't looking at her.
She could see his back turned to her through the darkness.
Yet somehow, even now, it felt like he was watching her.
In these moments, Dang Soran felt a strange emotion budding toward him as she washed herself.
After thoroughly cleaning her body and redressing, Dang Soran hesitantly approached Han Seojin.
Poke, poke. She shyly prodded his back with her finger.
"D-Done... washing."
"..."
Dang Soran looked at Han Seojin. The porridge still stuck in his hair.
Suppressing a laugh that nearly burst out, she beckoned him to go ahead.
"Don't look at me either, Miss Soran."
"A-Are you crazy? Why would I look!!"
Dang Soran huffed in disbelief, letting out empty breaths.
Han Seojin headed to the lake as if that settled it.
Dang Soran leaned against a tree, now keeping watch for him.
The words she'd heard earlier were so absurd that empty chuckles kept escaping her.
Why on earth would I peek at that guy? I'm not a pervert.
What's there even to see?
Peeking is something men do to women, not the other way around.
Besides, Dang Soran only wanted to possess Han Seojin like a tool—nothing more, nothing less.
He might become a tool worth treating a bit preciously. But that was truly it.
Their levels didn't match from the start, did they?
Her, the eldest daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan, bothering with some random beggar?
Didn't he know that even conversing with her was a once-in-a-lifetime honor?
Then came the sound of rough water.
"..."
A boring scene unfolded before Dang Soran's eyes.
The donkey tied nearby.
The village visible in the distance. The fire Han Seojin had lit nearby.
No one approached, and there was nothing to see.
"..."
Dang Soran unwittingly turned to look behind her.
And for a moment, her breath caught.
It was a thought she'd never had when seeing her brothers' or father's bodies... So this was what a man's body looked like?
She'd never seen a fully grown adult man's naked body before.
...Except for her youngest brother Dang Yeop. But Yeop was just a kid.
Unable to even breathe, Dang Soran took in the sight.
Beneath the clothes of Han Seojin, whom she always teased, was a body packed with muscle.
Thick lines absent from a woman's body stood out clearly here and there.
"...Wow."
It was an experience she'd never have in the Tang Clan of Sichuan.
Her heart pounded. Even she could feel her hot breaths spilling from her mouth.
As she watched like that...
"...Huh? Kyaa... Kyak!"
Dang Soran screamed unwittingly and turned her head away.
She'd seen it. She'd looked.
Even this was her first time seeing an adult's.
"Argh."
Han Seojin, perhaps realizing she'd peeked, grumbled briefly... but soon ignored it and kept washing.
Dang Soran remained frozen, utterly captivated by the scene she'd burned into her eyes.
Once her trembling heart calmed, Han Seojin had already finished washing and dressed.
"..."
"...Sigh."
Han Seojin didn't scold her as he came out.
He just sighed and walked ahead.
Dang Soran opened her mouth to make an excuse, but that mushroom shape lingered in her mind, leaving her speechless.
****
After refreshing herself, Dang Soran sat by the fire.
Han Seojin, having carried her all day, seemed exhausted and quickly fell asleep.
Seeing him sleep so comfortably on the bare ground without complaint highlighted their difference in status.
Yet now, Dang Soran didn't view it negatively.
Strangely, only smiles came to her.
Dang Soran couldn't sleep.
Probably because she'd napped all day on his back.
She quietly gazed at the night sky, which she hadn't seen in who-knows-how-long.
She passed the time by adding firewood to keep Han Seojin's fire from dying.
As her emotions settled and reason returned, a thought arose.
...Why on earth did the money pouch tear?
She'd only been riding the donkey, so no reason for it to tear.
She hadn't pushed through bushes or trained.
Realizing this wasn't a natural occurrence, her suspicion fell squarely on one person.
The soundly sleeping Han Seojin.
Dang Soran hesitated, then approached him.
"...Young Master."
Prod. She nudged him awake with her foot.
He didn't stir.
"Young Master."
Prod prod. She nudged again, but Han Seojin didn't wake.
Dang Soran swallowed and crouched in front of him, lifting his clothes.
"...Gasp."
Perhaps due to his poverty, Han Seojin wore only one layer.
Lifting it revealed his bare skin and muscles immediately.
"..."
For a moment, Dang Soran forgot her purpose and bit her lower lip.
Unable to overcome her curiosity, she cautiously placed her hand on his chest.
'...So hard.'
Surprisingly firm. It felt like it was made of entirely different material from a woman's body.
Amid faint excitement, Dang Soran couldn't stop herself, and she began groping his body more boldly.
If anyone—especially Han Seojin—caught her, she'd have to bite her tongue and die.
But Dang Soran, who always had to do what she'd wanted since childhood, kept touching him.
At that moment, had this body subdued her? Dang Soran kept swallowing as she pondered.
Seeing the body that had defeated her stirred a strange reverence.
Of course, she'd chosen that act to some extent, but the humiliation and sense of domination she'd felt then were real.
Dang Soran's curiosity extended to his lower body.
...Should I poke it just once?
"...Ah."
She suddenly inhaled sharply through her nose and snapped out of it.
She'd nearly gotten a nosebleed.
Dang Soran berated herself, wondering what demon had possessed her moments ago.
What's so great about this beggar that I'm groping him...!
Dang Soran checked his face, wondering if he'd woken.
...Fortunately, still asleep.
"...Huh?"
...Maybe because he'd washed cleanly? Or his hair was neater? Why did he look a bit handsome...
Realizing she was veering into strange thoughts again, Dang Soran shook her head.
What just happened was something to take to the grave.
Sometimes, when she came to her senses, the mere fact that she was interested in this beggar felt humiliating.
Dang Soran refocused on her goal and rummaged through Han Seojin.
...And soon enough, out came a pouch.
"...I knew it."
Dang Soran let out a hollow laugh.
Pathetic little man. Petty jerk.
Sulking over a bit of teasing and pulling a prank like this?
For a moment, anger surged, and she pinched his cheek to wake him...
"..."
Then, another thought struck her.
Once his prank ended, she'd get the money back, right?
Then... no more novel experiences like today...
"..."
Dang Soran scanned the surroundings.
Everything she'd experienced today felt fresher than years of stimuli in the Tang Clan of Sichuan combined.
Today, her world seemed more vibrant.
Dang Soran looked at Han Seojin, then at the pouch.
...And finally, she made her decision.
****
"I'm hungry."
Someone rudely slaps my cheeks to wake me.
"I'm hungry, I said."
I frowned and opened my eyes.
Dawn was breaking.
The indigo sky greeted me. With dew everywhere making it quite chilly, I crawled toward the fire.
"Young Master! Make food!!"
"Huh?"
As I came to, I saw Dang Soran.
Right. She has no money.
Ugh, annoying.
One day was enough; time to give it back.
"Miss Soran. Just take this to the village inn and..."
I reached into my bosom to return the money.
"...Huh?"
"What do you mean, go to the inn?"
My mind sharpened, and I sat up.
I pulled out the pouch.
"...What the."
A gaping hole.
Not a single coin left.
...What? When did it spill?
My blood ran cold.
"Young Master, I'm hungry, I said!"
Dang Soran shook me as she spoke.
Only then did I realize what mess I'd dragged Dang Soran into, and guiltily scrambled into action.
"Ah, yes. Okay. P-Please wait just a bit. I'll make something."
At that moment, Dang Soran grinned slyly.
"Hurry up. I'm looking forward to whatever dog food you'll feed me today."