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The soft clicking of heels on a stone road drowned out by cheerful conversations was the sound of freedom for Sook-hee. It had only been a few weeks since her and Hideko's escape from their life as they knew it, and every day since was a celebration of their happiness. The money they had stolen from The Count wasn’t spent wisely, apart from on the house. Most of it was spent on the prettiest shoes and jewelry for Hideko. She loved the feeling of her shoes taking her wherever she wanted, instead of just the grounds of the manor. No longer trapped, no longer submitting and complying to everyone around her, and no longer trapped by the eyes of Count Fujiwara and her uncle.
What else would Sook-hee be doing now, than buying another gift for her lover? What she had in mind was something sweet, like the candy that had brought them together before, the flavor seeping into their lips and tongues to be shared through love. However, Sook-hee also wanted something a bit more tart, more mature. Something that felt like them— sweet at only a taste, with a richer, more sour taste the more you consumed, leaving an intoxicating aftertaste. Something to lull them to comfort, a blanketed by a gentle state of sleepiness and child-like play.
A small shop sat on a street corner of the busy city, only a few people inside. Upon approaching it, she stared longingly at the deep red wine in the window. What better way to treat a lady? A drink of many flavors made long ago, with intent to someday be beautiful and worth consuming— worth giving thought before you even taste it, and once you do, worth savoring and analyzing for as long as you can.
Purchasing wine wasn't something Sook-hee has ever done before, but the few times throughout her life that she's gotten a taste, she loved the taste. Now that she had the money for it, what was stopping her?
When she returned to their shared home with the bag in hand, Hideko stopped humming along to whatever song played on the radio and perked up from her seat.
"Another gift?" she questioned with a knowing grin.
"I can't help myself," Sook-hee responded, setting the bag down and rummaging through their cupboards.
"Did we happen to get any wine glasses?"
Hideko's voice was smaller now.
"Wine glasses?"
"It's alright, we can just use regular ones. What the point of special ones anyways?" Sook-hee muttered, bringing two glasses over to the floor in front of Hideko's chair, taking the wine from the bag.
She glanced up, noticing the way Hideko's lips pressed into a line, her body seemingly frozen.
"Haven't you had wine before?" Sook-hee asked curiously as she determined how to open the bottle.
Hideko hummed a yes, still frozen in place.
"You didn't like it?"
"I'll try it," she laughed nervously, sinking down onto the floor as Sook-hee poured their glasses.
"Cheers, then," she smiled, raising the glass to her lips and tilting her head back, which Hideko mirrored.
At the first taste of wine, Sook-hee was nearly blinded by how much she enjoyed the taste. However, she still caught the change in Hideko's expression when she tasted it for herself.
"You don't like it?" Sook-hee questioned anxiously. With disappointment, she supposed that she should have stuck with the usual gifts.
Hideko shook her head, struggling to meet Sook-hee's eyes. When she did, the look in her own was haunting— like she was somewhere else, somewhere unsafe.
Sook-hee watched Hideko curl in on herself, shielding her gaze. Hiding herself, her emotions, like she did back at the manor. Never meeting her gaze completely. She found herself to suddenly feel like a man back in that library, laid back with a hand gripping her thigh in restraint and the other fanning herself bashfully. A horrid feeling it was, even more so to see it reflected on her lovers face.
"Hideko? Miss? Are you okay?" she asked with concern, leaning closer.
She remained quiet for what seemed like a lifetime, before finally meeting Sook-hee's gaze with a sigh, and responding.
"I just can't help but think of the Count."
Sook-hee felt her heart drop, and the gasped involuntarily. The wine nearly spilled with how quickly she pulled the glass and bottle away from Hideko.
"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean for you to think of him, I just—"
"It's not your fault," Hideko murmured, which only made Sook-hee feel worse.
"You shouldn't be comforting me, I should be comforting you!" She held her arms out for a hug, before hesitating and retracting them. "Maybe, you don't want to be touched. Sorry."
"Stop apologizing," Hideko said firmly. "You're the one that helped me escape that mess."
Sook-hee smiled gently, looking down to the wine bottle on the table and staring into the deep red liquid until an idea struck her.
"Well, we already fed that ring to the harbor. This is just another part of him to kill, isn't it?"
A slight smile formed on Hideko's lips, and she nodded, slowly standing. She outstretched her hand, and when Sook-hee took it, she squeezed gently.
The temperature hadn't eased much, but the cold breeze that blew down at the harbor was a slight relief from it.
Hideko had found them a quieter, less busy spot at the edge of the water, the setting the open bottle of wine that they had discreetly brought along between them.
"You should do the honors," Sook-hee told her, kneeling at her side.
Hideko let her eyes fall down to the bottle, again, studying the shining glass before she picked it up. Looking back out on the water, she could see a few boats farther out, and many birds flying above. People waited on the docks, greeting family and friends.
Before Sook-hee, she could never have imagined a life with so much freedom, especially the kind of freedom that she could see all around her, in passers-by and the rest of the bustling cityscape.
She tipped the bottle downwards.
The wine spilled into the dark harbor like blood, creating a light pink color in the sea spray, reminiscent of Hideko's soft lips, which disappeared only a moment later. The past year had been filled with fleeting moments like these for. It must have been Hideko's time alone in the manor that taught her to notice such minuscule things around herself, like the subtle smell of tree blossoms in the air and shapes in the clouds above, and it didn't take long for Sook-hee to pick up this habit herself. No matter where she looked, she always saw Hideko. Despite being completely overwhelmed and surrounded by Hideko's love, with no escape in sight, it seemed that she could still never get enough of it.
“Wasn’t it expensive?” Hideko questions, breaking her gaze away from the water and looking up at Sook-hee, who hummed softly in thought, before her lips lifted in a smile.
“Keeping a lady is expensive.”
Hideko gently ran her hand running through the cold waves below as she responded.
“I’m not exactly a lady anymore.”
“Can't I still treat you like one?”
Hideko smiled now, her wet hand reaching up to hold Sook-hee's now, guiding the two of them to stand once again.
"I suppose I can't complain about being spoiled rotten," she admitted, pulling Sook-hee along with her away from the Harbor. "You should buy us food, then. I'm hungry."
The busy city swallowed them up once again.