Man of the House, Epilogue
Previously:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: Moon Jae-shin belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Everything else belongs to me.
Technical Notes: Jokduris are the little headpieces worn with traditional formal wear. Wikipedia says that they (as with a fair bit of Korean clothing) evolved from Mongol clothing.
Author's Notes: It's a little past midnight, meaning it's already Sunday, and I'm taking advantage of our Internet connection holding somewhat steady, so I'm updating! Here's the final installment of MotH. I'm not quite sure what I'll post next, but I'm working on a couple of things and hope to have something ready by my next posting date!
Thank you to min7girl, junmaolove, naddyamal, and akaironoyoru (welcome back!) for the reviews, and to all the silent readers for following this story to the end :)
Epilogue
Joseon, 1793
The last bride to have worn the Cha family jokduri was Ka-hai's aunt, Cha Bo-sun. She had come with her husband to attend Ka-hai's wedding, and joined the rest of the ladies in the family in helping the bride to dress.
As tradition dictated, the bride was dressed as grandly as a queen. Her apple green jeogori featured long, flowing sleeves trimmed with red and gold; and her chima skirt was of rich crimson silk. A white sash embroidered with a crane motif - cranes being a symbol of fidelity - was tied around her slender waist. Ka-hai had never worn anything so fine in her life, and prayed silently that she didn't do anything that day to ruin her clothes.
"Isn't her hair piled a bit too high?" Lady Cha asked Lady Kang, her sister-in-law and the mother of the bride, as a maid embellished Ka-hai's coiffure with jeweled ornaments. "Our Ka-hai is a tall girl, and she might end up dwarfing her bridegroom."
"It's all right," the other woman replied. "My sons say that the boy is a bit taller than her."
"Haven't you seen him for yourself?"
"I did, briefly, but... I was feeling unwell on the day he came to the house."
"Please stay still, my lady," the maid then said to Ka-hai. She had finished dressing the bride's hair and was about to paint the traditional red circles on her cheeks and forehead. "We want the circles to come out even, don't we?"
"Sorry," Ka-hai replied, and did her best to oblige. Her mother would probably never forgive her if she presented herself to the wedding guests with lopsided circles on her face, she thought petulantly. She didn't need to deal with that on top of the embarrassment she still felt whenever she thought of the day she met her betrothed.
Fortunately, the face painting passed without further incident, and then it was time for the literal crowning touch.
Ka-hai's eyes were fixed on the butterfly ornament surmounting the jokduri, so she didn't notice that it was her aunt, not her mother, who had put the coronet on her head until after the fact.
As Lady Kang sniffed and blinked back tears (whether of happiness or relief, her daughter wasn't sure), Lady Cha gave her niece an encouraging smile and said the words that Cha brides had been hearing for generations: "May your husband's eye always look upon you with favor," her aunt said. "May his heart cherish you and your many children. And may his arm keep your troubles at bay."
Ka-hai mustered a smile. She didn't know anything about Moon Jae-shin's heart or his arm, but the fact that the wedding was pushing through even after that disastrous first meeting suggested that, at the very least, his eye didn't look upon her too badly.
(Either that, she thought wryly, or her betrothed was just too lazy to start all over again with another girl.)
Suddenly, they heard shouting in the distance, and the sounds of laughter and footsteps as people went outside to investigate the commotion.
"They're here!" called Cha Ka-chun, one of Ka-hai's two younger brothers, as he walked past her door. "Are you ready, hyung?"
"I was born ready," was Ka-sar's cocky reply. "Our brother-in-law isn't going to know what hit him."
Lady Cha laughed. "It sounds as though the groom's party has arrived." She took her sister-in-law's arm and nodded to the other ladies in the room. "Let us go and greet them, and get our Ka-hai married."
THE END
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: Moon Jae-shin belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Everything else belongs to me.
Technical Notes: Jokduris are the little headpieces worn with traditional formal wear. Wikipedia says that they (as with a fair bit of Korean clothing) evolved from Mongol clothing.
Author's Notes: It's a little past midnight, meaning it's already Sunday, and I'm taking advantage of our Internet connection holding somewhat steady, so I'm updating! Here's the final installment of MotH. I'm not quite sure what I'll post next, but I'm working on a couple of things and hope to have something ready by my next posting date!
Thank you to min7girl, junmaolove, naddyamal, and akaironoyoru (welcome back!) for the reviews, and to all the silent readers for following this story to the end :)
Epilogue
Joseon, 1793
The last bride to have worn the Cha family jokduri was Ka-hai's aunt, Cha Bo-sun. She had come with her husband to attend Ka-hai's wedding, and joined the rest of the ladies in the family in helping the bride to dress.
As tradition dictated, the bride was dressed as grandly as a queen. Her apple green jeogori featured long, flowing sleeves trimmed with red and gold; and her chima skirt was of rich crimson silk. A white sash embroidered with a crane motif - cranes being a symbol of fidelity - was tied around her slender waist. Ka-hai had never worn anything so fine in her life, and prayed silently that she didn't do anything that day to ruin her clothes.
"Isn't her hair piled a bit too high?" Lady Cha asked Lady Kang, her sister-in-law and the mother of the bride, as a maid embellished Ka-hai's coiffure with jeweled ornaments. "Our Ka-hai is a tall girl, and she might end up dwarfing her bridegroom."
"It's all right," the other woman replied. "My sons say that the boy is a bit taller than her."
"Haven't you seen him for yourself?"
"I did, briefly, but... I was feeling unwell on the day he came to the house."
"Please stay still, my lady," the maid then said to Ka-hai. She had finished dressing the bride's hair and was about to paint the traditional red circles on her cheeks and forehead. "We want the circles to come out even, don't we?"
"Sorry," Ka-hai replied, and did her best to oblige. Her mother would probably never forgive her if she presented herself to the wedding guests with lopsided circles on her face, she thought petulantly. She didn't need to deal with that on top of the embarrassment she still felt whenever she thought of the day she met her betrothed.
Fortunately, the face painting passed without further incident, and then it was time for the literal crowning touch.
Ka-hai's eyes were fixed on the butterfly ornament surmounting the jokduri, so she didn't notice that it was her aunt, not her mother, who had put the coronet on her head until after the fact.
As Lady Kang sniffed and blinked back tears (whether of happiness or relief, her daughter wasn't sure), Lady Cha gave her niece an encouraging smile and said the words that Cha brides had been hearing for generations: "May your husband's eye always look upon you with favor," her aunt said. "May his heart cherish you and your many children. And may his arm keep your troubles at bay."
Ka-hai mustered a smile. She didn't know anything about Moon Jae-shin's heart or his arm, but the fact that the wedding was pushing through even after that disastrous first meeting suggested that, at the very least, his eye didn't look upon her too badly.
(Either that, she thought wryly, or her betrothed was just too lazy to start all over again with another girl.)
Suddenly, they heard shouting in the distance, and the sounds of laughter and footsteps as people went outside to investigate the commotion.
"They're here!" called Cha Ka-chun, one of Ka-hai's two younger brothers, as he walked past her door. "Are you ready, hyung?"
"I was born ready," was Ka-sar's cocky reply. "Our brother-in-law isn't going to know what hit him."
Lady Cha laughed. "It sounds as though the groom's party has arrived." She took her sister-in-law's arm and nodded to the other ladies in the room. "Let us go and greet them, and get our Ka-hai married."
THE END