"You just declared my marriage a dreaded subject, my Wise Teacher. What prospects are there left for my future?" Ho-Orabeoni stared at Min-Jun with a forced grin.
"Dear boy, I fear I spoke ahead of myself. Marriage is the epitome of unity and harmony," and he interlaced his boney fingers theatrically in front of the young man.
"Well, Wise Teacher, I wrote to you the arrangements behind this betrothal. Would you be against it like the rest of my family?"
Min-Jun patted Ho-Orabeoni's hand, encouraging. "Come now, marriage has its fair share of joys. Overly sweet joys," and the old man winked at him. "Besides, I do not believe your entire family is against you marrying. Your mother at least must have your best interest in mind if she urges you to go through with it."
"The issue is not my mother urging me to marry or my uncle not approving of her choices. He still performs the rituals for our ancestors' worship since Father died. Out of respect, my mother never challenged him. But now he demands I ask for his approval, knowing well he would not approve of my consort choice and my alliance with the Deputy Minister of Interior's family. They do have the ear of the king." He fervently shook his head. "Argh, it's not easy. You should be at our family's council meeting: Marry this one! Don't marry that one! It drives me insane. I feel like I live in a nest filled with snakes," sighed the young master.
"I am puzzled as to why your uncle rejects your consort choices. But you should approach this with great care. It is not easy to fall out with your family. I should know," he said thought, rubbing his chin and looking in Soo-Ah's direction with meaning.
The young man's eyes expressed he understood. He slowly shook his head. "I fear thinking about his ulterior motives would make me question his loyalty to our family name."
"Indeed. Better to avoid any schemes and machinations. My advice would be to have an official concubine ahead of the consort; there is no approval needed for that, and you can have your first heir. With your lineage secured, you could claim the head seat of your family. That is, if you care about heirs and inheritances. Somehow you seem more bothered about the quarrelling than the fact that you don't have a good woman."
"I feel my mother cares too much about my future consorts so there is no more room for me to care," replied the young man with a chuckle.
"My dear boy," Min-Jun put his hand firmly on his guest's shoulder, like a father would, "you are a young man, and I remember how it is to be young. But listening to you say what you just said makes me reluctant to ask you about your cold bed. You need a woman to bring you comfort and share your essences with."
"Ha-ha, well, as you say, you remember my old teacher, having someone to warm up my cold bed is the easy part. All I can say is that I manage very well with that," the young man replied, rubbing his shapely eyebrow, a little embarrassed.
"You are one slick scamp," replied the old master, grinning from ear to ear, and giving an appreciative shoulder punch.
Soo-Ah frowned, confused. Why was a cold bed a problem? Ho-Orabeoni could easily ask her grandfather to warm his bed. Or send Jung-In in with a bed warmer. But it was summer. Why would anyone want a warm bed in Summer? In her daze, all absorbed in the men's conversation, she accidentally pushed a cup from the table, alerting her grandfather to her presence.
He focused his attention on the girl, before clearing his throat to make a kind request. "Soo-Ah, isn't it bedtime for you already?"
"No, I want to stay!" she supplicated in vain.
Ignoring her plea, her grandfather added, "Go and ask Ha-Rin to help you get ready for bed and do not forget to say good night to your Big Brother."
The girl got up from the table with resentment. Ignoring her grandfather's suggestion, she stomped out of the room. Min-Jun did not wait for her to exit and explained loudly enough for Ho-Orabeoni's ears to hear, "You understand now what I was saying earlier about politeness and façades?"
Trailing behind Soo-Ah, marching to her room annoyed, the men's conversation remained alive and was kept so late through the night, switching tone frequently from serious whispers to loud jokes.
*
The next morning, bright and early, the little girl got up and got ready in a haste to get to the breakfast table first. She had big plans for Ho-Orabeoni today, but when she faced him from across her seat, her shyness swallowed up all of her words.
Besides, Ho-Orabeoni's day had already been planned by her grandfather. They were to ride and inspect the farmland. The young man had brought with him some new ideas about crops from the capital and Min-Jun was intrigued.
As soon as they finished eating Master Min-Jun, Han-Gyeol and Ho-Orabeoni headed to the stables with Soo-Ah in tow, pleading to be taken along.
"Child, we are going out on the field and have serious matters to discuss. This is not a stroll," her grandfather added as he steadied himself in his saddle.
Soo-Ah could not hide her sulky pout, nor did she plan to, attracting Ho-Orabeoni's sympathy. He left the reins in Hang-Gyol's care and squatted near her.
"I'll tell you what, My Lady of the House. If you wait for me, we can do whatever you want when I get back."
"Whatever I want?" Soo-Ah's eyes glinted. The top part of her cheeks turned pink as the young man chuckled and patted her head.
"I'll wait for you Ho-Orabeoni right here. I promise," and she sat on the slab outside the stables, accompanying with her gaze the party as they took to the dirt path and rode for the fields.
Jung-In came to find her but was unable to convince her to leave her spot and forget her promise to Ho-Orabeoni. So he seated himself by Soo-Ah's side on the slab.
Not long after the mid-day hour had passed, three silhouettes emerged from the haze in the distance. The riding party had returned tired and sweaty, Ho-Orabeoni joking about the joys of a refreshing dip.
"The river, Young Master," Jung-In found himself blurting as the idea of cooling down in the heat appealed to him also.
Soo-Ah was not so fond of this suggestion and dared to remind Ho-Orabeoni about the promise. But the young man was too enticed by the thought of the cool water.
In the end, Soo-Ah found herself following Jung-In and Ho-Orabeoni to the riverbank. Jung-In walked ahead with the Young Master, randomly picking plants from the side of the dirt path and continuously blabbering his nonsense. Soo-Ah trailed behind, not so enthused about the dip in the river. She had a change of heart and stopped.
Jung-In noticed Soo-Ah lagging behind. "Soo-Ah-ah, Sister Soo-Ah, come on," he called for her to join them.
Ho-Orabeoni flinched every time he heard him calling her in this casual manner, compared to the respectful proper title he used as a noble addressing another. What was wrong with how Jung-In called her? Her grandfather always said they were like brothers and sisters.
In the end, watching them walk further on the trail, it was like being pulled by an invisible thread to follow in their steps. The two almost raced to jump into one of the natural pools where the river bent and flowed calmly. They only stopped to take off their shirts while Soo-Ah caught up with them. She remained at some distance from the edge and looked apprehensively at the water, attracting the young master's attention.
"Sister Soo-Ah is scared of the water, Master. She never wants to go in," Jung-In was happy to share while taking off his sandals.
Ho-Orabeoni kneeled near the girl, who was biting her nails, looking terrified. He took her little hand from her mouth and held it, "Why don't you want to go in the water, my young lady?"
"I tried once, and I almost drowned," came Soo-Ah's whining reply.
"She is silly, master. She just slipped into the shallows and went face down. Since then, she never went in," Jung-In said, laughing as he remembered the event.
"I see." The young man's lips hid a smile. "Lady Soo-Ah, would you trust me?" he asked in all seriousness.
The girl nodded as she kept her eyes glued on Ho-Orabeoni.
"Then come on, I will take you into my arms and we can jump together. Alright? Let's jump on the count of three."
And saying this he lifted the girl, taking off her shoes and holding her close to his chest. Fresh berries mixed with the fields' scent in summer hit her again. Ho-Orabeoni started counting. "One, two..." On three they were already splashing the water around, in the calm pool the river flow built around the rocks of the landscape.
Soo-Ah was wet from head to toe and looked around scared, but Ho-Orabeoni lifted her in the air and began dipping her in the water, in a playful game. In a panic, she splashed water on his face by accident. They both stopped and peeked at each other in an awkward moment of silence. Ho-Orabeoni's twisted expression was so hilarious that she burst into laughter, continuing to splash water, while he joked around, urging her to stop.
Without fear, being in the water was so much fun. Without Ho-Orabeoni who knew how many more experiences would be lost to her? From here on, whenever she would go swimming in the river, she would imagine Ho-Orabeoni was there with her.
All this time, with his head half-submerged, Jung-In was sulking, looking at the two of them playing. He wished he would have not been so verbal about Soo-Ah's fear of the river. Maybe he would have averted the laughs those two were having by themselves. He began kicking the water hard, swimming from one bank to the other, glancing at Soo-Ah and Ho-Orabeoni between his strokes.
Long after the first pruning marks on their palms, did they consider getting out on a smooth bare stone that was stretching out like the final land bastion over the water? Ho-Orabeoni helped Soo-Ah push herself onto the top while Jung-In needed no help as he had been monkey-climbing this rock for years. They basked in the sun and in the picturesque tranquillity.
Jung-In collected pebbles and tried building a tower, sighing every time one of them tumbled down. Next to him, Soo-Ah glanced at Ho-Orabeoni as he was sitting close to the edge, with his feet dangling and keeping cool just under the water's surface while lying on his back. His muscular build was enhanced by the water dripping and drying under the warm rays of the sun. When remembering the tales Jung-In had told her about the god of water, Habaek, Soo-Ah imagined the Water God would resemble this beguiling young man.
Sensing the girl's covert glances, Ho-Orabeoni caught Soo-Ah's peering eyes but was left mesmerized by how her pupils reflected the water's surface and glistened in the light. It was a sight he had never seen before and he smiled at her, as bright and as warm as this day had been.
*
A scorching summer day had a tendency to invite rain in its wake. The following day the weather was acting up, bringing in the clouds and pouring big water droplets from the sky the entire morning.
Ho-Orabeoni came out of the house looking for the peculiar little girl he had taken a liking to. She would usually wind her way around him like a cat, but not this morning. He took to the courtyard, the stables and the garden where she usually dragged him while playing, but she was not there. The more he searched the more he wanted to find her. He travelled further to the spot hidden in the small grove where the children took him to show their hidden treasures.
In the end, he caught Soo-Ah laying on her back and staring attentively at the branches of a tree. With care, he sat under the lush foliage, next to her and whispered closely to her ear, "What are you looking at, my Young Lady?"
Soo-Ah was not startled. She had kept her gaze on him since he snapped a twig under his foot while making his way through the lush vegetation. She tried to point out at the bird's nest she was watching but the charms of mother nature and the man's features battled for her attention.
"Up there is a mother bird with her baby chicks. Grandpa says mother bird will teach them how to fly. I want to watch how she does it because I had this thought. What if a person could also fly, Ho-Orabeoni?"
"Well, I have not heard about anyone flying and living to tell the tale. Flying is something so easy for birds. We, humans, are too different from them - I for one never grew any wings. Do you have wings on you? Let me check and see," he teased, tickling her while she writhed on the grass and almost choked with laughter.
He stopped and allowed her to catch her breath. "It's like I thought. You have no wings either so it will be useless to learn how to fly from a bird. But what if I try teaching you instead?" he asked, with a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Could you?" Soo-Ah lifted enthused from where she was perched. "How would you teach me?" inquired the girl, giving a wary stare.
"Like this!" answered Ho-Orabeoni. With no other explanation, he raised himself and took the girl up in the air to put her over his shoulders. Under the green palette of the canopies, he ran around, squealing, trying to imitate the sounds of a bird.
"No, Ho-Orabeoni. Don't squeal like that," Soo-Ah protested through her silly giggling. "You sing so beautifully, so sing like a bird."
"A compliment from my Young Lady. I am touched. How about I write you a song as a gift for all the small gifts you offered me?"
"It better be a beautiful song!"
"I am sure I can write a beautiful song even for an ugly duckling like you, my lady."
"I am not an ugly duckling!" screamed Soo-Ah, while pulling on Ho-Orabeoni's hair in annoyance, as the warm rays of the sun beamed down through the leaves to tickle her nose.
The night before leaving, as the last song, Ho-Orabeoni played a sweet melody he had never sung before. With his dizi, he echoed out the first notes of a tender lullaby. It started off slow with simple sounds coming together in a soothing rhythm. At cadenced intervals, they split and rose in smooth columns with high-pitch accents, bringing dynamics to the slow tempo. It lingered in the listeners' ears, leaving them swaying their heads and with goosebumps on their skin. Those notes were followed by Ho-Orabeoni's beautiful singing voice, as he took to his dizi again between every stanza of the song.
"By the river, On its shore
There is a Wildflower I have never seen before.
Only the sun's bountiful warmth
Tickles Her stem to spur her growth.
Only the rain, kissing the ground
Could make Her beauty bloom all year round.
When the cold wind comes blowing down,
She does not break, She only bows.
And when the snow falls from the sky,
She does not wither, She does not die.
She grows there, waiting for the one
Who will pick Her up and take Her into his arms.
I've searched these lands far and wide
And watched my steps with every stride
Hoping that one day I would see
The loveliest of flowers is seated here, in front of me."
At the end of the song, he gave Soo-Ah a knowing look, letting her know this was her song.
She treasured this moment and would go on singing from now on, sometimes messing up the lyrics, but never the melody. She would sing it more often when she missed Ho-Orabeoni, like a bird's trill calling from afar.