"Huh?" Gabbie looked at her weirdly before realizing what DoHyun ment.
"I said what's phone?, You said it earlier and I just thought it sounded unfamiliar"
Gabbie gulped, unsure of what to say to her. "Well, um Kora you see, uh…" she was completely speechless, what could she say?
In ancient times like these where letters and horns are used to convey information, how would she explain what a phone is?
Luckily, a loud toast caught their attention.
A man lifted up his cup and with a loud voice yelled "Hail Emperor Zhou!"
The nobles, already quite drunk, raised their cups unsteadily and chanted "hail hail Emperor Zhou!"
The host continued, "To the prosperity of our great kingdom Jingwu! May our cups be full and our hearts always be merry!"
Noble man 1: "Here, here! May our wine be as abundant as the Yellow River!"
Noble man 2: "And may our friendships be as strong as the Great wall!"
They clunk their cups together, spilling wine in the process, laughing and cheering.
The host put down his cup and raised his hand. The music got louder and more drinks and foods were distributed. The host said loudly, "Let the maidens come in, Wu he ji!".
They cheered and clapped, some whistling…..the host's words 'Wu he ji' said 'no worries, no cares!'.
In a straight line, flower maidens stepped in, they were double the number of the noble men seated.
The four peered through the curtains in bewilderment, how it all went from sober men talking with each other to intimacy with the flower maidens was something they didn't understand.
"What the…" said Derrick, it was like watching live pornography, with each nobleman having two maidens to himself. Did they posses no shame? Behaving unduly in each other's presence?
What bothered Eiden most was where were they exactly? Was it some kind of lavish brothel house?
"Let us leave now" DoHyun's voice broke the silence, her voice raw with sadness. She stood up and so did the rest of them.
The sound of their clacking heels echoed through the hallway, they walked behind her in an awkward silence. They had questions to what they saw, was the night bloom garden some kind of fancy brothel for nobles? What exactly is a flower maiden?
They arrived at her chamber in silence, "just wait here and lock the door" DoHyun instructed, she still had to get them food to eat.
Once she left, they locked the door.
"What was all that just now?" Asked Gabbie, she looked at Eiden
"Perhaps a 'flower maiden' wasn't what we originally depicted it to be" he replied
"So she's a courtesan then?" Jason asked, wasn't she a bit too young to be one?
Their conversation was laced with a mix of confusion, curiosity and a hint of disbelief.
"How long do we have to spend in this clothes?" Derrick groaned, ignoring their inquisition on what DoHyun's nature truly was.
He was too hungry to think straight.
*******
DoHyun arrived at the front yard where the moon shone brightest, Lily flower, plum blossom and blue rose sat on a pavement braiding each other's hair.
She walked up to them, her eyes narrowed at their comfortable smiles "Do you know where Jie Lan might be?" She asked
"Kora?" Blue rose smiled widely at the sight of her "you're here, it's a nice evening"
Slightly bowing to show her respect, "it is. I need to find Jie Lan" she repeated
Lily flower answered "oh Lan? That poor thing had an abrupt bloom" she replied with feigned sadness
DoHyun's grip on her dress tightened, "okay" she muttered before walking away.
She hated the other maidens, even her Jie, they're all acting so relaxed. How could they accept such a fate as a flower maiden? She hated her life there and wished to change her fate…..she just wasnt sure if it was possible.
On her way back, she pushed a trolley. It had on different meals and dishes. Maybe the four she brought home will be her ticket to leaving the tall walls of night bloom garden.
The knock on the door caused them to shriek
"Don't worry it's me" DoHyun announced in a whisper and they let her in. She noticed that they already changed their clothes and we're sitting comfortably.
Derrick jerked up from where he laid on DoHyun's bed "ah finally! Food's here"
She closed the door behind her and let them have the trolley.
Minutes later, the trays of food were empty. Derrick laid on the floor with his belly up, he burped "I've never been so stuffed before".
Derrick Hawkins, an orphan. He lived with his uncle, an art enthusiast and rock music fan. His uncle was too busy to look after him, his parents were gone and he had been practically looking after himself since when he was eleven.
Games that offer points as real money were what he used to survive plus the bonuses he gets from being really athletic and winning prizes for his school. He never really cared about his grades, had no hope for college since there was no money
Being able to eat like this without worrying about tomorrow was a feeling he hadn't had in a long time.
"Manners Derrick!" Jason scolded
"Fuck you", he tried raising his middle finger but he was too tired to.
They stayed in silence for a while before DoHyun voiced "I know you all have questions" she began
Derrick waved her off and rolled to his side, groaning "yeah yeah, we'll ask tomorrow" he sounded tired and sleepy.
She paused before smiling "Ive prepared some beddings, you'll use that".
Derrick waved his thumb "sure thing flame princess"
After setting up, Jason and Eiden had a hard time getting Derrick to his side, he was just too heavy.
DoHyun prepared the bedding in her dressing chamber which was closest to exit at the back, in case of anything, they could escape through there easily.
"Goodnight everyone" she said, about to close the door
"Night Kora" said Gabbie
"Thanks….. DoHyun" said Eiden, he preferred calling her that instead.
She closed the door slowly.