[Chapter theme song "Akatsuki no Yona" from playlist tinyurl.com/hofsotsound ]
The siege on their capital forced the Baekje to put down their weapons. Once they were adjoined to Silla and their king and crown prince sent to exile, the pockets of rebellion were smothered like embers devoid of air. The swift winter war was brought to an end but the strenuous road towards unifying the region had just begun.
As soon as he handed in his military insignia, Min-Jun found a way to put his general's sword and teaching skills in storage. He waited not for his family's decision and headed north, cutting ties with all of them. For the first time in so long, he no longer felt alone. The war that had taken so much from him left him with a new purpose and boundless love.
In the north awaited a new life, sprouting from an old gift. Back in the day, when his life was as promising as a young tree, stretching its branches to seize the world around it, Min-Jun was appointed General for his combat valour and heroism. As a reward, the king gave him several slaves and made him lord of an old manor and a fertile domain. The estate was tucked away behind the hills of the northern territory of Hansanju province, between affluents of the Muddy River, near a flourishing village.
The general decided this would be the perfect place to call home, appreciating the great distance he put between his new family and those prying and judgmental eyes from the capital. He would miss his beloved city, not its fetid society.
A couple of years had passed before he could say they were truly settled in, enjoying the tranquil atmosphere. Children's associated tumult gradually added to the rural sounds of the countryside, and it was soothing to his ears.
He was at peace, the world around him was at peace and daily life took over. However, peace is such a frail thing, just like a child.
Soo-Ah saw the changing of the leaves and heard the shamanist chants for good tidings and bountiful crops with each season that passed. When she wanted a hug it was offered to her in double. When she had tears in her eyes they were kissed away. And when her feisty temper caused minor earthquakes in her world, there was always someone there to set everything right again. And she had Jung-In to pin her attention on. Soo-Ah chased and climbed after him through every nook and cranny as if they were glued at the hip.
The administrator's boy had taken on his shoulders one unsought responsibility: to act as Soo-Ah's big brother. In his childish stubbornness, he did not know how to better dodge his duties. Being a Big Brother was a role unfit for this unruly child because he could not behave any less like a big brother. He was mildly interested in his strange-looking play companion but whenever they would play together, he would end up teasing her and that spelt trouble for him. So, he tried to ignore her as much as he could.
*
Sitting in front of Min-Jun's front gate, under a canopy of blanched clay tiles, shielding the entrance, good-hearted Ha-Rin Noona, made a lot of noise.
"Jung-In-ah! My lady Soo-Ah? Where did you hide, you stubborn child? Come out! What no-good thing are you up to with that rascal, Jung-In? I swear I will tell the ol' master, and he will leave you both without supper! Soo-Ah-ah! Jung-In-ah! Come home right now!"
The kisaeng turned nursemaid and housemaid took a couple of steps and stopped in the middle of the dirt road grooved with wheels and horse hoof tracks. To the east it connected the manor to the village while to the south awaited the rest of the kingdom.
Looking along the fence made of short stone and rammed walls dotted with geometric decoration on top, there was no trace of the two children. She returned to the courtyard, "Jung-In, you naughty boy, you better not have brought my lady Soo-Ah near the river again. You just watch as I tell your father, Han-Gyeol. Your butt will feel the sting of that administrator's rod." But she knew poor Jung-In had little to say in all of this because Soo-Ah tailed him everywhere.
Ha-Rin continued to call and look for the two in the hidden alcoves around the manor, under the wooden deck, behind the empty straw baskets and over the oi cucumber hedges in the plant garden. Making the house deck creak as she treaded hard over it, after searching the principal sitting area, the master's study and the kitchen of the main manor, she grumbled for her ears only, "Ol' master better set right your tempers and show you both to the righteous path."
Finding no trace of the children in the living quarters, the young servant headed with hastened steps on the old worn trail leading from the back entrance, past the empty slave shacks and the animal pen, all the way to the cultivated fields. Skimming the horizon there were only workers out in the field. Framing the distance was the small grove shielding the river, peacefully carving its way through the bedrock.
Taking one deep breath, Ha-Rin got ready to give up one more try calling, "Jung-In! Soo-Ah! You better not be playing again in the old burrow. You' want head lice and your heads shaved again? Old Master said that hair comes from your ancestors, so you must cherish it like no other."
Not getting any answers, she shrugged her shoulders before returning to pluck the chicken and season it for dinner. When all else failed, hunger would guarantee that the naughty pair showed up at the table.
Every day followed the same pattern for those two, chasing each other among the crops. And tomorrow would be no different.
*
Soo-Ah stumped her little sandal in the loamy soil dotted with gravel. Revolted, she watched Jung-In's back as he walked away after having called her a toothless duckling for the tenth time today. It was not her fault her teeth were playing hide and seek, leaving her with a gap and talking with a lisp. She was almost seven years of age but one day she will have a full set again and Jung-In will finaly stop picking on her. He enjoyed too much teasing every time she crossed him. Or he would ignore her, as he did now.
If she could, she would have grabbed him by the collar and dragged him home with her, because Jung-In cared so little about her directives. All he seemed to have in that big, dumb head of his was this stupid "fastball- sturdy ball" competition against the boys in the village.
"Jung-In, the sun is about to set. Come home with me right now!" Soo-Ah's small quick steps were not fast enough to catch up with the wide and sure strides Jung-In took to reunite with his village friends at the pinnacle of the hill.
He was strutting, full of himself. He was running for first place in their race, and the ball made of paper he'd stolen from Master's study this morning was still in good shape. Plus, he bragged on and on about how it looked so interesting after painting it with the old master's ink stick and inkstone. It left his fingers smudged and he wore those stains with pride in front of the four other boys he was racing against. Second place was not good enough for such a cool-looking paper ball, he stated.
"Or your dumb pride", Soo-Ah mumbled to herself.
"Stop nagging me, Soo-Ah. Go home by yourself." Jung-In yanked his white peasant blouse from the girl's hand, as soon as she grasped it between her delicate fingers.
From the top of the mound, one of his friends teased, making all the others laugh. "What's the matter, Jung-In? You ′bout to go home a loser 'cause of that Young Mistress?"
Soo-Ah resentfully stuck out her tongue at them. She did not care about what those rude village boys were saying. They seldomly dared to speak out of line to her so she could make all the faces she wanted. They never liked her anyway. And the feeling was mutual. Her grudge took root when they didn't allow her to take her turn in playing with the kites at the seasonal fair last autumn until her grandfather showed up. They feared Old Master Min-Jun for sure.
"Jung-In, it is only a stupid race. It's getting dark. I am scared to go home alone." Soo-Ah turned to search with her eyes for her home.
The manor was not far, and the outline of the familiar buildings called to Soo-Ah from behind.
She was not afraid to return home, only dead set not to return without Jung-In. She never did before, and this was not the day when he would get to say in that mocking tone of his, "Sister Soo-Ah gave up on telling me what to do."
Jung-In's friends patted his back for shunning her. "Leave him be, stupid duckling! Go play with the girls!" they shouted at her too.
"Pft, what's a sheepshead like her gonna know about a boys' game?" Jung-In replied to his friends, puffing his feathers with self-importance.
He crouched and analysed the barren pathway down the small hill, already having in mind the trajectory. Only two more wins in this race and he would be declared the victor. His adversary did the same and was brimming with confidence.
The other boys began counting, spreading the tension and deepening the concentration. "One ball roll. Two balls roll. Three balls roll!"
On the count of three, the boys let their paper balls roll away and held their breath in anticipation to see which one would get to the finish line first. If the wind blew them out of their track everything would be lost.
Soo-Ah followed with her eyes as they came wobbling past her and looked at them suspiciously. She dashed to catch the dark-painted one.
"No! What is she doing?" the boys began lamenting and came running after her.
By the time they were all at the base of the hill, Soo-Ah already had Jung-In's paper ball tight in her palm, keeping it safe behind her back. The boys surrounded her and began to nag and shove, demanding to return what she stole.
"Give it back to me!" Jung-In tried to take a hold of her hand, making Soo-Ah step back.
She jumped at the sound of a gentle slush beneath her foot. The other ball in the game was made one with the ground. An angered gaze drilled through her.
For a moment, all looked dumbfounded at the outcome, then quizzically at each other.
"That was my precious ball, you idiot!" shouted the boy who now owned a cracked shell mixed in with some dust. He jumped at Soo-Ah and pushed her hard, angered out of his wits. Her bum landed on the rugged surface of the earth, crushing Jung-In's paper ball in the process.
Jung-In's face reddened with fury. "You can't touch Sister Soo-Ah like that. She's a noble."
But the peasant boy retorted back, "Noble nonsense. She has no True Bone blood. She's just a Fake Bone stowaway that the Old Master took in. She's an orphan so why should we treat her with respect?" the boy shouted back, looking at Soo-Ah with a type of disgust she had only glimpsed before.
Jung-In could not hold back. No one was allowed to talk or touch his Soo-Ah in this manner. He launched at his impertinent friend to tackle him in the middle of the field. Everyone else except for Soo-Ah got excited and began chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The two boys were rolling around, raising clouds of dust in the air like a fine mist. They winced as they pulled at the hair and clothes, pinching and smacking each other. Soo-Ah was the only one who tried to break them apart with her tiny hands, yanking at whatever part of their bodies she could lay hold of and begging them to stop. She tried her best until one of the boys chanting pulled her back from ruining their fun.