“How do you read this?”
He explained it was like a jochong (鳥銃 bird gun) turned upside down, and if you add a willow twig, it becomes ‘sa’, and if you add a scholar’s hat, it becomes ‘ha’—and if you put a dot below, the reading changes. The meaning varied depending on the notation.
Just like that, two hours flew by. She followed the young master’s lead, her fingers trembling as she picked up the brush and wrote. The young master watched with amusement as she focused intensely, to his surprise, waiting patiently while she struggled, unlike his expectations.
Before the young master left, Beodeul caught him to make a promise.
“Promise me, you’ll attend the writing class without fail.”
“Hmm.”
“No skipping or running away halfway.”
She felt this would lessen her guilt.
“If you’re going to teach, you need to know plenty to be a proper teacher.”
The young master kept his promise. After each lesson, he would strut into her yard, looking every bit the part of a teacher, and she would run out to him, clutching her practice papers, which pleased him.
Sometimes he brought precious snacks, having seen the humble state of her and her mother’s living. He wouldn’t eat a single bite himself, leaving it all to her. No matter how deprived of food she had been, she wouldn’t just gobble it up without offering it to him first. But he never ate.
He watched her eating, writing, and reading as if she were some strange creature and occasionally chuckled, and when he did, her night would be filled with the sound of clear laughter until she fell asleep.
“No matter the saying that one can’t spit in a smiling face. The young master is particularly troublesome.”
“Trouble?”
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, elegant and untroubled, as smooth as porcelain.
His eyes were cold, but his laughter was more open than it seemed. Was it because he had only suffered in his past life and had not laughed until he died, or was it because parasites nesting in his brain made him smile so unnaturally?
Facing his smile, her ears would heat up involuntarily, and her wandering eyes would fixate on his face.
“If you’re not going to spread rumours with all the women in town, you shouldn’t smile like that.”
“You’re the only man who blushes at the sight of me.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“I have eyes, too.”
He seemed intrigued that she would say something like this.
“Come to my house tomorrow. I have something I want to give you.”
“Wouldn’t your father disapprove of my visit?”
“Would I invite you without reason? He’s traveling.”
However the situation had come to this, a day without the young master now felt strange. It was as if she had returned to the year when she had taken care of him.
She wondered if she should tell him about leaving Muritmaegol in a few months.
“Beodeul, give me a moment of your time.”
After the young master left, as she was pondering, a familiar voice reached her ears. Yunhu had set up in the yard; when had he arrived? She wondered if he had come to check on her since they hadn’t seen each other lately. The other day, when she and her mother were both out, someone had come to the house, and she suspected it might have been Yunhu.
“I heard you went to the lantern festival with someone other than me. Was it Ki, the young master?”
“Why, are you going to tattle to the master?”
“No, no. Of course not. Does the young master know?”
“Know what?”
“Ah… nothing.”
Yunhu laughed awkwardly as she scowled at him.
“Come with me to gather herbs tomorrow. You can even bring the young master.”
“You always doze off in front of the young master.”
“When have I ever! Anyway, I came because there’s something urgent to talk about.”
It seemed Yunhu had another purpose besides inviting her to gather herbs, as he fidgeted with his hands, turning as red as ember. She wondered why, then tensed at a sudden thought.
Could it be that he actually preferred men and had developed feelings for her, planning to confess?
Considering Yunhu’s recent behaviour around her, it wasn’t such a far-fetched guess.
“I have to put rice on for mother before she comes back.”
“Just a moment! We’ve known each other for a long time. So now…”
Was it time to speak?
She crossed her arms and stood in front of Yunhu. Yes, it was best to strike while the iron is hot. She should promptly tell him she couldn’t reciprocate his feelings for a man. It had been two months since Yunhu had been agitated around her; perhaps that was patience enough.
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