SIN | CHOI MUJIN/JUNG TAEJU

5 SINS

❝IT WAS A SIN FOR HIM TO BE SO ATTENTIVE OF HIS LEADER'S WIFE, BUT TAEJU COULDN'T HELP BUT GIVE INTO HER EVERY REQUEST❞

Mujin and Aera had sat in the dining room in complete silence as Ms. Yang had continued to bring steaming hot plates of food on the table. Aera didn't exactly know the nature of the relationship between her and him besides the fact that they were husband and wife. For all she knew, the old ahjussi could've kidnapped her to begin with.

"How long have we known each other?" Aera asked as she watched Mujin position his fork and knife to cut the large steak on his plate.

"Four years." Mujin answered as he raised his glass and took a sip of his wine.

"Four years?" Aera did the mental math and gasped. "I was seventeen when you first met me, ahjussi! You cradle robber!"

Mujin who was in the middle of drinking his wine choked at her statement and after a series of coughs, he spoke again. "Aera, we weren't romantically involved when you were seventeen."

Before Aera could continue to pry for any more answers from him, Taeju arrived at the dining room informing him that one of his subordinates had called with important information.

"News about Do Gang-jae?" Mujin inquired as he raised himself from his chair and shrugged on his suit jacket while Taeju nodded in response.

"Finish up your dinner. We'll talk when I get back." Mujin looked at Aera one last time before he began to make his way out of the dining room. Taeju was prepared to follow suit, however, Mujin suddenly spoke again. "Stay with Aera. If she asks for anything, make sure to get it."

After Mujin left the premises, the two were enveloped in silence once again.

"Why don't you join me for dinner?" Aera asked him. "Mujin won't be back for some time." It must have been awkward for him to stay in the room at Mujin's request. He nodded and sat down at the dining table with her yet made no move to serve himself a plate. Instead, he stared at the selection of foods with a faraway expression as he thought about how similar her words and actions were in the past.

"Why don't you join me for dinner?" Nineteen year old Aera smiled at Taeju as they both watched Mujin leave to handle business. "Mujin won't be back for some time." Over the years, her and Taeju had become much closer that they would often share meals from time to time when Dongcheon's leader was absent.

"I'll never get tired of eating this." Aera groaned as she inhaled the black bean noodles in front of her.

"You're such a messy eater, Aera." Taeju chuckled as he took out his handkerchief to wipe the remaining sauce from the corner of her mouth. "Nineteen years old and you still eat like a child. What are you, eight?"

"Take that back right now." Aera glared at him.

"What are you going to do about it, huh?" Taeju continued to tease her.

Aera placed down her chopsticks, grabbed a kitchen knife on the table, and flung it straight at him. Taeju, who was caught off guard, narrowly dodged the knife as it flew past his right ear and embedded itself in the wall behind him.

Taeju raised his right hand to touch his right ear before removing it to see small traces of blood.

"Are you okay?" Aera asked him when she had realized she had actually nicked his ear with the knife.

"Little Aera finally grew some claws." Taeju laughed as if what had transpired was no big deal, but Aera found herself rummaging for the first aide kit.

"Sorry." Aera apologized as she applied pressure to the wound on his ear with a clean gauze pad. "I acted before thinking. But it was your fault for annoying me."

"That's your apology?" Taeju raised his eyebrow at her statement.

"Well, you were the one who taught me how to throw knives, oppa. So it's your fault in the first place!" Aera stuck her tongue out at him as she finished bandaging his wound.

"I really did teach you how to throw knives like a pro," Taeju mused. "After all, besides our leader, out of all of Dongcheon's men, I'm the best at knife throwing, the best at combat, the best at...well everything! Dongcheon's leader should really pay me more for my hard work. It's a sin for me to be this talented!"

"There goes your ego again!" Aera rolled her eyes. "Shut up before I throw another knife at you."

"Taeju." Aera's voice brought him back to the present. "I have a request."

"Whatever your request is, I'll grant it." Taeju nodded for her to continue without knowing the nature of her question. It seemed odd to her that Mujin's right hand man would agree to her request just like that without asking further questions.

"Earlier, you said that you were only my bodyguard. Is that true?" Aera interrogated him.

"Yes." Taeju responded without a beat. "It's the truth."

"I found an old sketch of you in my art studio. I've never drawn anything but nature my whole life. If we didn't have some sort of relationship, why would I have drawn you?" Aera inquired.

"You are our leader's wife and I'm his right hand man. The both of us have always loyal to him." Taeju locked eyes with her. "We had no relationship other than master and servant."

He excused himself from the dining table and made his way across the room. On his way out of the dining room entrance, he was stopped by Aera's voice once again.

"I knew I felt something towards you in the past, Taeju. The careful and intricate strokes on my sketch of you prove that. So why are you lying?"

Taeju stiffened but he didn't make a move to turn around to face her before he replied. "Nothing I said was a lie, Aera. You only ever had eyes for him. It was one-sided on my part."

With his last statement, he exited the dining room, leaving Aera starstruck at the new revelation. Aera began to question if her feelings towards Taeju were really just platonic in the past.

-

hi everyone

it's been awhile since i've updated! school's back in session so i'm afraid updates won't be as frequent! nevertheless, i hope you enjoy reading this chapter! it was a tough one to write! i had to edit this multiple times because i wasn't satisfied with the ending pls omg

sincerely,

shirley x