Two For the Price of One, Ch. 3

[akane47]

Previously:
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two

Disclaimer: The SKKS-verse belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Author's Notes: Belated Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Here's the February update, hopefully still in time to celebrate. Thank you to Anonymous for the review! :)

Chapter Three

"Oi, Gu Yong-ha! Wait for us!"

Yong-ha looked up at the sound of someone calling his name and, seeing his closest friends riding towards him, commanded his own horse (an exceptionally fine mount, with a coal-black coat to highlight any colors that its rider might choose to wear) to stop and let the others catch up with him.

"Geol-oh!" he hailed one of the riders. "I'm on my way to your house. Don't you remember that I was coming to visit today?"

"Of course I remember," replied Moon Jae-shin, known to their Sungkyunkwan University classmates as "Geol-oh," the crazy horse, as Lee Sun-joon rode up and greeted Yong-ha with a quiet nod. "But the boys were getting a little restless," Jae-shin added, "so I took them out to play."

A little face popped out from behind him. "Hello, Uncle Yong-ha!" called Moon Jin-young, the eldest of Jae-shin's children.

It was then that Yong-ha noticed that his friends were sharing their saddles with their sons, and that the entire group looked as though they had been rolling around in goodness knew what. Even Sun-joon's white scholar's garments were liberally smeared with dirt and grass stains.

"We were on our way back," Sun-joon explained. His own son, Hyun-seok, rode behind him. "Come, let's head over there together."

"And since you're coming with us," Jae-shin added, "you can share the burden." Urging his mount closer, he transferred his younger son, four-year-old Hak-young, from his lap to Yong-ha's.

Yong-ha and his new passenger looked at each other. The child was dirty and smelled of sweat and sunshine, but even the hardest of hearts couldn't resist the smile on his round, dimpled face. "I'd be delighted to," Yong-ha said, with just the slightest hint of hesitation in his voice.

The other man grinned, always glad to take down his fastidious friend a peg or two. "Good. Let's go."

Fortunately, they weren't far from the Moon residence, so it wasn't long before Yong-ha was able to put a little distance between himself and his odoriferous companions. They left their horses in the care of the grooms and made their way to the garden, where Jae-shin and Sun-joon's wives and daughters awaited them.

"Pretty uncle!" one-year-old Moon Chae-young crowed at the sight of Yong-ha, her little arms held out in welcome.

"Hello, my darling plum blossom!" he answered, scooping up the baby and bussing her noisily on the cheek. Unlike her brothers, she was fresh from her bath and thus much more pleasant to hold.

"Me!" demanded Lee Hyun-jung, tugging on "pretty uncle"'s mauve overcoat with impatient (but clean) fingers.

"And, of course, hello to you, too, my sweet little wren," Yong-ha said, sitting on the porch and gathering her into his arms to give her a kiss as well.

"Trust Yeo-rim sa-hyung to attract all the unmarried females the moment he steps into a room," Sun-joon teased.

Jae-shin shot his friend a scowl that would have been terrifying if Yong-ha didn't know that he was only joking. "I'll have to draw the line here, Yong-ha," he declared. "If you're in search of a wife, you had better go after someone closer to your age."

"Like one of these lovely ladies, perhaps?" Yong-ha suggested, holding out a hand towards the woman closest to him, who happened to be Jae-shin's wife, Cha Ka-hai.

"Someone closer to your age and not already married," Jae-shin amended, stalking over and taking her hand possessively. Sun-joon quickly hustled his own wife, Kim Yoon-hee, out of flirting range.

Ka-hai laughed up at her husband. "And what makes my lord think that I would ever think of trading him in for another husband? Especially," she added, with a teasing glance at Yong-ha, "one that looks like he might blow over in a strong wind?"

"You wound me, my lady," Yong-ha protested, placing his hand over his broken heart, a dramatic gesture spoiled by the two baby girls in his lap, engrossed in the string of beads hanging from his hat. "I'm just wiry, that's all."

She hummed skeptically and turned her attention to her sons, who flanked their father like miniature bodyguards. "Why don't you boys go and wash up?" she asked, her tone making it more a command than a suggestion. "And by 'boys,' I mean both the little and big ones."

"I'll need help washing up," Jae-shin said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and tugging on his wife's hand, which he was still holding.

"Of course you will," Ka-hai agreed readily. "Boys, you heard your father. Help him wash up, and make sure he doesn't forget to wash behind his ears."

Yong-ha smiled as he watched Jae-shin send her a look that promised future retribution as their sons chortled about his dirty ears. Once upon a time, back when he thought that all girls were strange, silly creatures to be avoided at all cost, Yong-ha had harbored some special feelings for his brusque friend. He never confessed them, though, sensing that Jae-shin saw him as nothing more than an annoying boyhood companion, and took cold comfort in disguising his overtures as his own special kind of teasing. As the years passed, most of those feelings had gone away, but they remained fond memories and Yong-ha still couldn't help being extra concerned for his friend's welfare.

These days, however, he no longer had to keep as close an eye on Jae-shin. Although his friend had encountered some difficulties with his strong-willed wife in the beginning, he now seemed happy in his marriage. At least, Yong-ha thought as he watched the former object of his affections herd his sons into the house, Jae-shin seemed happy enough to try fathering enough children for his own jangchigi team.

After cleaning up, the men and boys rejoined everyone else, and the children spent some time playing with the grown-ups before it was time for them to eat and rest under the watchful eyes of their nursemaids. Although they were having a fine time showing off for their elders, they went willingly, probably in order to cause mischief a safe distance away from their parents.

"Next time," Yoon-hee teased her husband when the young ones were gone, "I shall ask Nurse Kang to bring extra clothes for you, too."

Sun-joon plucked self-consciously at his borrowed overcoat. Jae-shin had lent him one so that he wouldn't have to sit around in dirty clothing all night, and it was a bit too wide at the shoulders. "I didn't plan this. It just... happened."

"That's exactly what Hyun-seok said that time we found him and Jin-young all covered in mud," Ka-hai reminded Yoon-hee.

"Obviously, little boys don't change-they just grow older," the other woman chuckled. "We must tell Lady Cho-sun that. She should be warned now that she has a son."

"Thank you very much," their husbands said dryly.

"If the stains won't come out, just send it to the shop," Yong-ha said to Yoon-hee. "My laundress will take care of it. Why don't you tell us about the news at Sungkyunkwan? Has Professor Jung been confirmed as the new headmaster?"

Sun-joon nodded, grateful for the change in subject. "Yes, he has. Headmaster Choi finally got a position with the new Ministry of Culture-just as he's about to retire," he snickered, a rare impish smile crossing his face.

The men and Yoon-hee laughed. Headmaster Choi had been in charge of Sungkyunkwan back when they had attended the university together. He was not an evil man, but it had to be admitted that he set a poor example for students who were preparing for careers as civil servants. His replacement, Professor Jung Yak-yong, was infinitely more qualified.

"We're very glad to have Professor-I mean, Headmaster Jung in charge, of course," Sun-joon went on, "but it's also a pity that he's not directly involved in King Sun-jo's government. I'm sure Jeonha would benefit greatly from his guidance."

"Oh, he'll still get the opportunity to guide the king," Jae-shin said. "The Ministry won't stop consulting with him now that he's headmaster, especially not with a new king on the throne."

By "Ministry," Jae-shin did not mean the Ministry of War, where he had begun his civil career; rather, he referred to the Ministry of Justice, where he had transferred shortly after Hak-young's birth. The move made his father, Minister of Justice Moon Geun-soo, immensely proud, but father and son of course agreed that Jae-shin would start at an appropriate level and work his way up the ranks.

"Soon, you'll have to consult with the merchants and the laborers, too," Yong-ha boasted.

"Is the Joseon Chamber of Commerce coming together, then?" Yoon-hee asked, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, how exciting! You will lead it, won't you?"

"That's not for me to say," he said modestly. "We will choose our leaders as a group, and there will be more than one. I do hope to be one of them, though," he admitted.

"Who else is in the running?" Jae-shin asked.

"Some of the older merchants, of course," Yong-ha said, "but no one particularly important among them. I think my biggest competition would be Ma Ki-hoon, the wine merchant. A rather large group is backing him."

"Really?" Ka-hai grimaced. "I wonder how they can stand him when he's so disagreeable."

That grabbed her husband's attention. "Has he been rude to you?" Jae-shin demanded.

"No, not really," she assured him. "He just doesn't seem to be very nice to his customers, that's all; especially if they're only servants. If we could buy wine somewhere else that's closer to the house, I would do it in a heartbeat. I hope that you beat him, Yong-ha."

"Of course he will!" Yoon-hee declared. "Yeo-rim sa-hyung is an important merchant and a Sungkyunkwan scholar. There's no one better suited to lead the Chamber of Commerce than him."

Yong-ha favored the women with a brilliant smile. "Ah, my dear ladies, where would I be without your faith in me? Why didn't you marry me instead?"

Predictably, his remark was met with unfriendly looks from their husbands, but surprisingly, it was Sun-joon who spoke. "They were doing you a favor, sa-hyung," he said. "It was to keep Geol-oh sa-hyung here from killing you."

The wine merchant, Ma Ki-hoon, was a skinny, middle-aged man with a face as sour as his disposition. The expression on his face was decidedly disagreeable when Iseul entered the Ma residence. “Oh, you're here,” he said, with the enthusiasm of one discovering that he had stepped in something unpleasant.

Although she wasn't any more glad to see him, Iseul managed to maintain a more polite facade. “Good morning, Orabeonim,” she greeted him with a bow. “Is Harabeonim in his study?”

“Where else would he be?” her older half-brother retorted. He jerked his head impatiently at the man by his side. “Take her to him, Master Jo. Get this over with.”

“I'll see you later, Orabeonim!” Iseul said, bowing again at his retreating back.

He did not bother to reply, but the man in whose care she had been left had a much more pleasant personality. Master Jo was her grandfather's right hand, entrusted to assist him with business matters as well as manage the running of the household.

He greeted her with a bow of his balding head. “Welcome, agasshi. How was your journey here?”

“The same as always,” Iseul replied. That meant she spent the entire time thinking about the kind of welcome she would receive, and resisting the temptation to just turn back and never darken the Mas' door again.

She never admitted that to anyone, of course, but Master Jo's smile suggested that he understood. “Come,” he said. “I shall take you to the master.”

Ma Byung-chul, the grandfather Iseul shared with her half-siblings, oversaw his business empire from one of the largest rooms near the front of the house. Unlike the other rooms, whose furniture could be folded up, moved aside or otherwise stowed away so that the rooms could be used for different purposes, this one was never disturbed except by Master Jo, who knew just how to clean it while still keeping his master's papers and writing implements arranged just so.

“Miss Kim Iseul to see you, master,” Master Jo announced as he escorted Iseul into the study.

Master Ma, enthroned behind his desk, balefully eyed her from beneath shaggy gray eyebrows. “So, you've come back.”

“Yes, Harabeonim.” She sank to the floor on her hands and knees in a deep bow. “I come to visit you every month, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” he snapped. “I'm not senile.” There was a loud rustle as he thrust a sheaf of documents at Master Jo.

“I'm glad you continue to enjoy good health, Harabeonim,” Iseul said, and held out the parcel she had brought with her. “I brought you some yakgwa. Halmeonim and I made them.”

Master Ma grunted and motioned for Master Jo to take the biscuits as well. He shuffled some more papers as the servant took the package and withdrew respectfully. “Are you still teaching?” he barked after a pause that was probably meant to make her uncomfortable.

“Yes, Harabeonim.” She mustered what she hoped was a cheerful smile. “It's going well, if I may say so myself.”

“Bah!” he harrumphed. “A woman working-that's not respectable. You should be at home, taking care of a husband and children.”

Iseul froze her smile in place and bit back a retort that she would be doing just that if the Mas had done their duty by her and found her a husband when she came of age. “There's still a chance that I might marry someday, Harabeonim,” she told him sweetly, “but in the meantime, I already have a family to care for, and my work as a teacher is a very important part of that.”

Visits to her father's family always left Iseul drained, and it was no different that afternoon, when she went to Gu Yong-ha's shop for their second meeting. Besides her grandmother, Iseul was accompanied that day by Han Chae-mi, her neighbor and good friend, but the other young woman's presence did little to lift her spirits.

“You could show a little more enthusiasm, you know,” Chae-mi muttered to her as they escorted Madam Park down the street. “Gu Yong-ha doesn't take just anyone as a client, and I'll bet we're the first from our neighborhood to even set foot in his shop!”

“I know,” Iseul replied in an equally low voice, glancing at her grandmother to check if the old woman had heard. (Fortunately, she was busy discussing the day's errands with Chin-hae, who was walking just behind them.) “I'm just tired.”

The merchant welcomed them, even Chae-mi, with effusive greetings. “A good friend's opinion is always welcome in matters such as this,” he said when Madam Park made the necessary introductions. “In fact, in the absence of a professional's opinion, it is useful to simply ask yourself, 'Will my friends laugh at me if I wear this?'”

Chae-mi beamed. “I'm sure your clothes will be beautiful,” she said, “but I promise I'll tell Iseul honestly if she ever looks ridiculous.”

Iseul began the meeting with a visit to the back room, where a female employee took her measurements. Then, Gu Yong-ha himself sat down with them to discuss styles and colors over tea and snacks. "Please don't be shocked, Halmeonim," he said, "but the most fashionable jeogoris end just below the armpit. They've been getting shorter and shorter for quite a while now."

"Oh, yes," Madam Park agreed mildly. "I noticed that myself before I lost my eyesight." She stopped short. "Women still wear bodices underneath, don't they?"

He chuckled. "Yes, they do," he replied. "Speaking of which, Teacher Kim, I think that we should make some bodices in colors other than white. White matches everything, but this is also an excellent opportunity to add something extra to your outfit."

Chae-mi nodded eagerly, hanging as she did on to the merchant's every word. “Doesn't that sound nice, Iseul?” she asked.

She nodded. "I think that it's a fine idea."

Yong-ha eyed his client uncertainly. Though he was pleased to hear her agree, because his more conservative clients wouldn't hear of calling attention to an undergarment that way, something had been off about her manner ever since she showed up that day. "Ah... and the skirts," he continued, "as you ladies may probably already know, are very full around the hips. They may be a bit wider than you remember them, Halmeonim, but I think that they give the wearer a graceful shape, like a bell."

"The bell shape is nice," Iseul said.

To be fair, she was clearly trying her best to take an interest in the discussion, but her clear lack of enthusiasm was nevertheless grating. "Is anything wrong, Teacher Kim?" Yong-ha finally asked, compelled to call her out on her odd behavior.

Her cheeks turned pink. "What? O-of course not," she answered with a brittle smile. "Nothing's wrong, sir. Please, do go on."

He didn't believe her for one minute, and it turned out, neither did her grandmother. "He did something, didn't he?" Madam Park asked Iseul, with a penetrating look in the younger woman's general direction.

Chae-mi gasped in shock. “No wonder you're acting so strangely!” she blurted out. Iseul, her face pink with mortification, tried in vain to discreetly shush her friend.

Yong-ha frowned. "Who did something?" The awkward turn in the conversation clearly had his client at a loss, and ordinarily he would have tried to smooth things over as quickly as possible, but this sounded serious.

"I know that you went to see him today," Madam Park went on. “And I heard you and Chae-mi whispering on our way here.”

"What did he do to you?" Chae-mi demanded, looking outraged.

"Nothing!" Iseul insisted. "He just... acted a little unpleasant, that's all. Can we forget about this, please?"

"That's not nothing," Yong-ha pointed out.

That earned him a faint scowl. "It's next to nothing, then," she said. "I'm sorry you had to hear about this, Master Gu, but really, it's nothing that anyone need worry about."

"On the contrary," he replied. "This sort of thing is a very serious concern. I did not know that something had happened to you on your way here, but I could tell that it had affected you in some way; and if a little unpleasantness was enough to change your behavior enough for a stranger to notice, what do you suppose would happen if someone did something more to you?

"I can create masterpieces for you to wear," Yong-ha lectured, "but they must be complemented with the proper bearing and demeanor. You will be doing my creations, and yourself, a grave injustice if you go around without an attitude to match." As if to demonstrate, he got to his feet and shuffled around the workroom, shoulders hunched and with a hangdog expression on his face.

Chae-mi laughed, but Iseul willed herself not to follow suit. He looked very funny, but she was also still annoyed at his prying. "I do not go around looking like that."

"Perhaps not," the merchant acknowledged, taking a seat once again, "but if I may be so bold, Teacher Kim, I can tell that you need to build your confidence." He leaned a sky-blue elbow on the low table, deftly avoiding a dish of candied plums. "Why don't I give you flirting lessons, along with your new clothes?"

"What?" She blinked and, realizing that he wasn't joking, laughed nervously. "Uh... I know that you are my grandmother's friend, but I don't know if that's proper-"

"Think of it as part of the service."

“That's a marvelous idea!” Chae-mi breathed.

Iseul turned to her grandmother. "Halmeonim-"

However, instead of being scandalized, the old woman actually nodded. "I think you should take Yong-ha up on his offer. You've been far too sheltered, child. Now that you're going to become a woman of some property, you should learn how to act around men for when the suitors come calling."

"There, you see?" Madam Park's partner in crime said triumphantly.

"But we don't even know if that's going to happen!" Iseul sputtered, her face on fire.

"Nevertheless, I think flirting is something that everyone should know how to do," Yong-ha told her, "and knowing that you can hold your own in mixed company should give you the confidence with which to show off my designs to their best advantage." He had the audacity to give her a little wink. "Trust me."

If anyone in Joseon was qualified to give lessons in flirting, it was Yong-ha, but a wise man knew that he did not know everything, and so he visited Ha Il-hwa, known in her gisaeng days as as Cho-sun and one of his old friends, to seek her advice and, at the same time, congratulate her on the recent birth of her son.

Even at the height of her career (and that was very high indeed), Cho-sun had never been too busy to entertain Yong-ha. They were never intimate in the way gisaengs and their clients sometimes are, but they built a close and lasting friendship because he had been quick to recognize her intelligence, and she knew that men who saw her as more than just a pretty face were few and far between.

His hostess received him in a salon in the house she shared with her husband, Ha In-soo, and their two children. In-soo was at work, but the children came out to greet the visitor and receive the presents he had brought for them. For the baby boy, there was a fine new blanket-Yong-ha's now-standard gift for new babies, because there suddenly seemed to be so many that needed presents these days-and for his older sister, some brightly painted wooden animals.

"It was nice of you to bring Mi-sook something as well," Cho-sun said after the niceties had been observed, and she and her guest settled down to talk. The boy had been taken back to his room for his afternoon nap, but the girl was allowed to stay behind and play quietly with her new toys.

"It was my pleasure," Yong-ha replied as they watched the toddler arrange the animals into a line.

She smiled, straightened the ribbon in her daughter's hair, and turned back to him. "Now, you said that you had something else that you wished to discuss with me?"

"Ah, yes." He paused, chuckling self-consciously. "Do you promise not to laugh?"

Cho-sun inclined her head, the gesture slow and stately as though she still wore a gisaeng's heavy gache instead of the simple chignon of a respectable woman. "Of course."

"I... I need some advice on how to flirt," he admitted, looking abashed. "I promised my new client that I would teach her."

True to her word, she did not laugh; but she did permit herself a smile. "Why do you need to ask me about this? Wouldn't you know best about what you want to see and hear from a woman?"

"I do, but I'm not teaching her to flirt with me!"

She arched an elegant eyebrow. "You're not?"

"No!" Yong-ha scoffed. "The woman is kin to a good friend of mine, a senior in the industry if you will, and I must give her the knowledge that will help her hold her own with any man who might cross her path. Her grandmother says she's come into an inheritance, and hopes to find a husband soon. If she is unprepared, she might end up making a poor choice. I can't have that on my conscience."

"Of course not," Cho-sun said, grave now instead of amused. She, of all people, knew how important it was for a woman to know how to take care of herself. "How can I help?"

"I'd like to know a little more about the other side of all of this. What do you, as a woman, think that other women should know when they set out to flirt with a man?"

She glanced at her daughter again. "I'll think about it," she said, "and I will let you know."

Iseul smiled in satisfaction as she blended red and orange together to add dimension to a flower petal. Painting always calmed her, and she needed it badly after the rigors of the day; and besides, it was nice to get a chance to paint what and how she wanted for a change. A nature vignette was hardly unconventional, but she did like to paint pretty things, and favored a palette more vivid than the muted browns, greens and grays used by the scholars and court painters. (That style looked clean and elegant, as well as conserved one's paint, but it hardly did justice to the richness of the subject.) There was something to be said about painting for the common people-at least the Hwa-jae commissions, and the orders she received from her students' parents for the lucky paintings called minhwa, gave her an opportunity to develop and showcase her personal style.

She dipped her thinnest brush into some black ink and started filling in the details of a butterfly's wing, wondering as she did so why her grandmother had agreed to Gu Yong-ha's suggestion of flirting lessons. Iseul could understand why Chae-mi would be so enthusiastic, but the idea of taking lessons from someone who was most likely to be a master at flirting, without knowing exactly what they would do....

“Surely he won't make you do anything improper!” Chae-mi had said when they discussed the matter after returning from the merchant's shop. “And Halmeonim or one of your servants will be there to keep watch. This is very important for both of us, Iseul-I need to learn how to catch a man, too!”

“But the whole thing makes me feel so uncomfortable,” Iseul replied. “And how would I do well if I flirt with a man I don't care about in the first place?”

“If it's that important to you, then maybe you could pretend you're flirting with that Master Bang you've been mooning over....”

Iseul paused to dip her brush into the ink again, wiping the excess against the edge of the well in her inkstone. Yes, that was how she should approach these lessons. Besides their relative wealth, it seemed that Gu Yong-ha and Bang Jung-soo had very little else in common, but surely she would be able to learn something that would be useful in her plan to capture the true object of her affections.