How the General and Eun Soo got a private bath. Dedicated to Faithagain :heart:. Parts of episode 22 are included in order to set the scene up. ALSO this is not connected to the previous chapter. Read my AN at the bottom where I explain why!
As Choi Young was away, Eun Soo tried her best to keep her spirits high. So many things happened, but she was constantly worried about him during this hard time. His hand was messing up and she prayed as many times as she could that it would hold up for him, for him to come home safe and sound. Even though she was heartbroken about her antidote falling and being destroyed, nothing was as causing her as much apprehension and uneasiness as knowing the dangerous situation he got caught up in. Was this going to be her day in and day out?
She rested her head on the dresser as she sat on the bed, holding the aspirin bottle again. She kept rolling it around in her hand as she thought back on all the memories that she shared with the General, both good, bad, and inbetween. She smiled as she looked down at the flower in the bottle. The fact that he saved it from when she playfully put it in his hair... They hadn't even shown affection to each other yet, not that she could recall. Maybe it all started back then and she didn't realize how he felt. Could he have started feeling for her all the way back then? Was that part of why it hurt him so much when she ran from him?
She sighed and closed her eyes to rid herself of that memory. She thought of when they first kissed, not the time in front of the royal wedding party, but their actual first kiss. When they were wanting to share their full emotions, to concentrate only on one another, and to enjoy the moment. She could almost recall all the feels of both nervousness and satisfaction from that one moment. Every kiss after that lessened the nerves but the intensity of emotions rose after every one.
She was broken out of her reverie when she heard Dae Man yelling excitedly that the troops were coming back. She hurriedly put the bottle back where she found it and ran to see him.
She was hurt from him turning his back to her the whole time. She was glad to see him safe and back home again, but he was ignoring her it felt like. She offered to take off his armor and he just said two simple words to her, almost out of the door. She cried, "Don't be like that, turning your back and evading me. Don't do that."
She reached out to touch him and he backed away again, causing her to hold back tears again. "It's not my blood," He answered, his eyes drooping and his breath to slow.
She didn't care anymore and hugged him. She no longer cared if it was his blood or not; besides, wasn't it better that it wasn't his own blood?
He let out a deep breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding in as he relaxed, holding her close. As she held him, she untied his armor and then backed away from him, pulling the armor off. As he stared with a slightly confused and dazed look on his face, she placed his armor on the table and promised to help him clean it later. She pointed to the bed and commanded him to sit. He stared at her unmoving, until she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the bed. "Let me check you out," She insisted, sitting down next to him.
He started to stand back up before she dragged him back down. "I told you there was no need," He reassured her, holding onto her hands in his. "I never let anyone get near enough."
She frowned as she squeezed his hands. "At least let me check, to relieve my own nerves," She begged, looking down at their hands.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the dresser. "I just need to rest," He told her.
An idea came to her mind and she clapped her hands together. "Ah, I know a way to do that!" She smiled and started shaking his arm as she stood up. "All the boys avoid the bath at this time for me, right?"
He nodded once before speaking. "I told them that if they wanted to avoid being dismembered, they had to do so," He informed her, his right hand rubbing his eyes.
She grinned and pulled on his right arm. "Then come take a bath with me. Please?" She pleaded, her lips turning into a pout while her eyes still showed playfulness.
His eyes opened and he coughed to hide his embarrassment as he tried to gently pull his arm away, unsuccessfullly. "That's not neccessary," He stated firmly, finally freeing his arm, trying to avoid her gaze. He tried to fight off the blush that threatened to show on his face. He looked down at his hands. "It isn't proper," He finally said after a few moments.
She kept pouting as she sat back down on him. She put her hands together and asked again, "Please? I can scrub the blood off for you while checking you out. It would ease my worries..." She gathered some of his sleeve in her left hand. "Please?"
Choi Young's eyes bounced around the room as he sat there in his own bashfulness. She hit the winning nerve for him to do anything she'd want. He sighed and rubbed his eyes before standing up. Eun Soo's eyebrows went up as she waited for his response. He picked up the clothes he dropped on the ground earlier and then took slow steps back to the bed. He held out his left hand to help her up. She eagerly took it and as she stood up, hugged him tightly. He patted her head, kissing the top of her head, before letting her to gather her own supplies. Her smile was enough to lift a hint of a smile on his own, and he hoped that it would be enough to melt away some of the awkwardness he was fighting. He wasn't sure if he really thought it was decent enough to bathe together but if it was enough to make her smile, he'd try, try to get over it.
He then thought of the fact he was about to see her full body, nude... and it came back full force as he coughed again and looked around the room, anywhere else but her.
They made their way to the bath, keeping an eye out for any soldiers daring to come forth. Choi Young was embarrassed as they walked hand in hand to the bath, hoping that no one would try to sneak in a bath before the regulated time was over with.
Eun Soo was seemingly oblivous to his nerves, trying to chat with him about random things while he made simple noises of acknowledgement. As they arrived to the bath, he opened the doors quietly, letting her walk under his arms before shutting the doors and placing a chair in front of it to block any entry.
She was busy setting up the bath, placing her clothes on another chair and lining up her toiletries on the edge of the tub. He placed his clothes on top as well before leaning over her to look at the different products. "What are all those?" He asked, confused at how many products she used.
She pointed out at the different containers as he set down his own bar of soap. "Shampoo, conditioner, soap, face soap, and then a lotion I made for afterwards." She picked up the lotion bottle in puzzlement before turning to set it by their clothes. "Don't know why I put that there," She mused.
He nodded, remembering her rubbing it on her hands one night. "Is that just for your hands?" He wondered as he started to untie his sleeves.
She smiled as she followed suit. "No, I put that on my whole body," She informed him, slipping out of her top layer. His eyes widened as he stared at her in shock. Her...whole body? He shook his head slightly as he continued on his task, stepping out of his outer pants. "Although I can't quite reach all of my back," She continued, letting her hair down as she talked, catching his attention as he stopped unrobing, his chest half-exposed. She grinned and spun towards him. "Can you do that? You wouldn't mind, right?" She asked in a high spirit, pulling on his robe, accidentally pulling it open more.
His eyes fell to the side of her as they widened, his mouth slightly open. Could he actually handle that? Before he could answer, she started to untie her last robe on top, having already removed her pants. Her legs were silky smooth and he longed to touch it. He shook his head and turned to his side, removing his top robe. He couldn't respond or form words at the moment. This was going to be harder than he imagined.
Before he could respond, he heard the last layer being set on the ground and her steps into the tub itself. She let out a happy sigh, the water splashing as it made room for her body weight. He closed his eyes and rested his left hand on the wall, holding himself up as he untied his pants slowly. He was going to die not in battle, but here, testing his patience at every second that past.
"Aren't you coming?" Her voice rang out, making him squint his eyes more. He nodded his head as he stood straight again, his hands working quickly to undo the last of his robes, sliding them off and placing them next to her clothes. He rubbed his eyes again before he opened them, his eyes facing down as he walked to avoid contact with any part of her. He settled down with his back towards her.
She scooted closer, causing the water to splash against him and he suddenly sat straight up when he felt her hands on his back. He closed his eyes and against his better judgement, let himself enjoy the touch of her fingers dancing along his skin. She would 'ooh' and 'awww' at the random scars he had, scars he forgot about and now wished he hadn't shown her. He turned his head to the side to speak. "Is this enough?" He asked, focusing on making his voice flat.
She smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see and answered plainly, "No." His eyebrows creased as he asked why. "Because this is only your back. I need to check your chest too," She asserted, pulling on his shoulders lightly.
He coughed and shook his head. "Absolutely not," He said sternly. He instinctively put his hands in his lap. That would be over the line of how improper he would let himself be pushed to.
She pouted and pulled on his shoulders again. "I can't complete my inspection if I can't see anything," She reminded him. She let her head rest on his back. "Please," She said softly.
He turned his head again as clenched his jaw. He let out a deep sigh before shaking his head again, speaking lowly. "That would not be proper," He once again refused.
"And if I cried?" She persisted, her hands rubbing his shoulders softly.
His head lifted to look at the ceiling, his spirit giving up. He could never refuse her if she cried, he knew in his heart. He sighed again, and without saying yes, slowly turned himself around to face her, his eyes closed to avoid the temptation of seeing her nude, and his hands in his lap to cover himself.
She bit her lip as she fought off a laugh from his shyness, letting her eyes roam his chest. It had been a while since she saw his abs, but now she could fully enjoy them. She touched the scar from when she stabbed him, causing him to shiver unexpectedly, his hand reaching out to move it away. "I thought you said you were going to inspect," He said, fighting back the urge to look.
She pouted and shook his hand off of hers. "I can look all I want, mister," She replied back, her hand reaching back to run down his chest, a little more forceful this time to avoid tickling him again. He let out a breath and let his head roll down as he relaxed. Her hands did feel good, he had to admit, even if he was still on edge from an incidental event that could happen.
She sighed, pleased that there was no cuts or scrapes, and dropped her hands to his arms, rolling her hands loosely on them. She tugged at them so she could see his wrists and hands, he stubbornly refused. She pulled again and his eyes shot open to try to get her to stop when his breath stopped at her body, her perfectly slim body, so creamy and silky looking. He was so distracted that she was able to pull his hands up and inspect him carefully, ignorant of the way he was suddenly looking over her shoulder with the faintest brush of pink on his cheeks.
"All done," She cheered, letting go of his hands to plop back into the water. He shook his head slightly before coughing and blinking. He made a move to turn around again before she pulled on his arm. "Wait," She said, bringing his eyes back to her face. She smiled and picked up the soap, holding it out to him. "Would you mind soaping my back?"
His left hand accepted the soap wordlessly as he watched her arms spin her around gracefully and he was less than unwilling to take in the image of her back and the curve of her waist and hips. He allowed himself this one image as he gently rubbed the back of her back with his left hand, his right hand following behind to smooth over the suds. He closed his eyes to fully focus on the feel of her skin beneath his hands, the softness of her skin below his calloused hands.
When he was done, he opened his eyes and with his hands, began to scoop water and let it fall on her back to wash it away. She let out a happy sound, making a small smirk rise on his face. When he was done, he allowed himself one thing he wanted to do. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her close to his chest, leaning over to avoid his lower body touching, and his arms below anything sensitive or indecent. He pressed his lips against her shoulders, his eyes shut. They both gave out a sigh of contentment, Eun Soo leaning on his chest as he held her closer. Finally relaxed, he kissed her just at the juncture of her shoulder and neck. Thank you, he whispered in his head. She nuzzled her head to his, bringing her arms to rest on his. This was their little moment of peace amongst the turmoil of the day and they celebrated in each other's arms.
Faithagain: I'm glad you caught my infraction of the bath scene! I was going to write that I came up with something that I knew wasn't possible, of having Choi Young having his own bath separate from the others, but then I remembered that I was going to have that happen after Eun Soo left, like he had them build it for when she came back. However that scene took place before then, so I flubbed up the time frame! So thanks for catching that, I'll rewrite that chapter to fix it. And I love your scene idea so much that well, obviously I just wrote it! XD Thanks so much for everything =D. I hope it came out alright. It was so much fun writing him so shy and bashful, I might have to do it more often (oh what fun!). :heart:
Guest: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! :heart: ^^ I have at least one more scene to write, so I hope you'll like it!
I miiiiight continue this scene, but I'm not 100% certain. So take it as it is now and enjoy it :heart:.
I've decided that I'm not going to exactly have everything be in the same world as each other. Meaning this chapter didn't take place in the same story as the last chapter since it's very different. Instead, this chapter takes place as the same time in my story "A Union of Body and Soul." So I have two storylines in place. I'll say this chapter is storyline 2, and last chapter is storyline 1. I'll write that on each chapter beginning to avoid confusion, although I hope I didn't just confuse you guys now! But that's why there is a second bath scene here in this chapter. Just go with it xD.
Of course there will also be scenes where it just doesn't matter which world it's in, so if I don't post a storyline number, it's just ambigious. I hope I didn't just make it even more confusing!
TL;DR, just read and accept that it's not all one big storyline =D.
I have one more scene (I know I said that last time, but this really is true) that I have planned, but then I'm not sure what else I'll have in store for here. But I hope that you guys are enjoying the read, and I'll be back soon! :heart:
