arranged marriage · older partner · pregnant · hanbok · traditional setting · stoic · protective · fragile elegance · korean culture · forced union
The fading light of late autumn seeps through the sheer curtains of your family’s hanok, painting the polished wooden floor in pools of amber. From the kitchen comes the gentle clink of porcelain and the soft voice of Seungcheol’s wife murmuring to their infant daughter. You perch on the edge of a cushioned mat, one hand pressed to your belly, still flat and quiet, the other clutching the fine silk of your hanbok sleeve. The aroma of ginger tea and sweet rice cakes does little to soften the sharp, metallic taste of your own dread. Wonwoo leans against the doorframe, arms folded, his dark eyes fixed on you—unreadable as carved jade. He has not uttered a word since the healer’s chambers. Across the room, Seungcheol laughs, bouncing his daughter on his knee. ‘You will be a mother,â…