"Shut your mouth before I rip it apart," Yoon Shik bellowed at Chan Sul. The surrounding people got quiet and looked in their direction. Silence occupied the tea house. Yoon Shik marched towards Chan Sul and gripped his robes tightly.
"How dare you such a thing for my sister? And, whom are you fooling? Aren't you the one saying those horrible things about my sister that day? You have seen her face and now acting as if you are innocent," Yoon Shik shouted at him. Park Do Yeong and Park Sunwo recalled that on the other day Chan Sul indeed said that he had seen Hani many times. Yoon Shik then threw a punch at him, knocking him down.
Yoon Shik bent on his knees and again grabbed Chan Sul's robes. "Tell me where is my sister? I know you all have planned something," Yoon Shik cried out.
"Yoon Shik," Park Yeong called out his name and went to him to stop him. He intervened between them and told Yoon Shik to calm down. Yoon Shik flared his nostrils and shot glares at Chan Sul whose mouth had been bleeding. "Where is Sung Tae?" Yoon Shik asked him in exasperation.
"Yoon Shik, he had left earlier. It has been over two hours and why are you hitting Chan Sul?" Sang Pil angrily spoke.
"Tell me where is Sung Tae? How dare you all invite my sister here?" Yoon Shik again shouted at them. Sunwo came to Yoon Shik and told him to calm down, pulling him up. Chan Sul too got up from the floor.
"Yoon Shik, did you check the home? Maybe she has gone home," Park Yeong suggested.
"No, I did not," replied Yoon Shik.
"Let's check at your house first. She might be in Baek Chun's restaurant. Don't panic. I will explain the rest of things to you in the way," Park Yeong calmed down Yoon Shik.
"Yoon Shik, get ready to take the punishment to hit the son of an upper-classmen," Chan Sul threatened Yoon Shik who chuckled and walked away from there, hitting his shoulder. Park Sunwo too followed Yoon Shik and Park Yeong. Jae Beom had come to the stairs and asked if everything was fine.
"Everything is fine," Sunwo assured Jae Beom. "Did you see Hani go out?" Sunwo asked.
"Young master, many people come a day here. If she is not here, then it means she has left the teahouse," Jae Beom proclaimed. Sunwo nodded and walked away. Outside the tea house, Yoon Shik told Yeong and Sunwo that Sang-Hoon sunbae-nim told him about Hani narrating a story to Sung Tae and others.
"Yoon Shik, some Kisaengs organized this for them. And, when we came here we saw them coming from upstairs but Hani was not here means she had already left. Sung Tae too had left earlier," Yeong explained to Yoon Shik.
"I don't trust them. It seems otherwise," Yoon Shik stated, flickering his eyes. "I do not know but I think she is in danger," Yoon Shik stated with teary eyes.
"Let's go to your house first," Sunwo suggested. "We shall separate. We will meet each other at the market junction later. Yoon, you shall go to your home. Sunwo and I will check the market," Yeong opined. Yoon Shik agreed to him and left from there.
Chan Sul was getting treated by the physician in the teahouse. "Chan Sul, you shall tell about this in the academy," Sang Pil suggested. Chan Sul was infuriated by all that. "Did you do the work which I told you?" Chan Sul asked a man in navy blue robes. The physician, after treating Chan Sul had left the private room.
"Yes, young master," stated the man. Chan Sul took out a pouch full of gold coins from the pocket inside his robe and threw it towards the man. "Make sure that people see those two with their own eyes and Yoon Shik as well," Chan Sul proclaimed.
"Do not worry, young master. Everything is going according to the plan," assured the man and walked out of the room.
"Yoon Shik's eyes will be lowered down today when he will see his sister in a very inappropriate situation with Sung Tae. He will make sure to kill Sung Tae and it will lead to his suspension to be as a government official. A low born can never be like us- he will understand this when he will be thrown out of Sungkyunkwan," Chan Sul contemptuously stated.
Oppositely, Yoon Shik went home to check on his sister. But there was no one in the house at that hour. He panicked and came back to the market to meet Yeong and Sunwo.
"She is not home," Yoon Shik worriedly spoke.
"She didn't even meet my sister. I checked the restaurant. Baek Chun told me she did not go there today," Sunwo informed.
"I deployed some soldiers and asked them, but none has gathered any kind of information about her," Yeong asserted.
"Where is Sung Tae? I know they have pulled some kind of prank on my sister. I will kill him if he will do anything to my sister," Yoon Shik in a fit of rage spoke.
"Sung Tae is not that type of guy. We shall check the marketplace only. Hani mostly roams here," Sunwo suggested. The three stepped ahead when three men walked past them, talking with each other.
"Did you see the prime minister's son left the teahouse with a young woman? Aish, the young woman was indeed beautiful," One of them spoke. Yoon Shik's blood boiled upon hearing those words. He quickly turned and stopped those men.
"Did you Sung Tae? With whom he left the teahouse?" Yoon Shik inquired from those three men. Yeong and Sunwo were also waiting for the response. The men were startled to see Yoon Shik there.
"She is a storyteller. We do not know about her name," one of the men replied. Yoon Shik wavered in step upon hearing that.
"Ahjussi, did you, by any chance where those two were going? Is the young woman crying or something?" Yoon Shik worriedly asked.
"Indeed, the young woman said that she does not want to go with the prime minister's son. But, you see, they are upper-classmen, and defying them could have resulted in her death. So, even we did not try to stop the son of the prime minister," pronounced the other man. "I think he took her to the nearby resting house. Mostly men take women there to enjoy," the man further added and slightly laughed. Yeong and Sunwo's eyes widened upon hearing the words of the man.
"I will kill you, Sung Tae," Yoon Shik muttered under his breath.
~~~~~
Sung Tae and Hani could be seen in a room lying beside each other. The jeogori (upper jacket) which Hani had worn over the high waist skirt was opened up. Sung Tae's overcoat was also opened, followed by the upper garment showing his naked upper body.
His eyeballs showed the movement as he gradually opened his eyes. "Ahh," Sung Tae cried out in pain and he placed his hand on the back of his head. "Ahh," he again winced in pain and tried recollecting what had happened to him.
"How dare he hurt me?" Sung Tae complained and turned his head when he saw Hani beside him with her clothes open. Immediately, he sat up and looked at himself. "W-what is this? Why are my clothes open?" Sung Tae mumbled, panicking.
He looked around the room and stood up from the mattress. "Where am I?" he thought. He got down from the bed and went to the door. He slid the door slightly and saw many women there along with men. Quickly, Sung Tae closed the sliding door.
He looked at Hani was lying on the bed unconsciously. Sweats of beads formed on his forehead. He quickly tied the knot on the upper garment and wore the overcoat, which was on the floor. "How can I end up with her?" Sung Tae was thinking all this.
"Why did they hit me, and how did this girl end up with me?" Sung Tae murmured when something hit his mind. "Chan Sul, Sang Pil if you two have planned all this then trust me I will not spare you," Sung Tae muttered furiously.
He went towards the bed and quickly tied the knot on Hani's upper jacket. He patted on her cheeks, tried waking her up. "Hani, Hani, wake up," Sung Tae tried waking her up, but she did not. "What did they give to her in that tea?" Sung Tae wondered and got worried.