Two For the Price of One, Ch. 5
Previously:
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Disclaimer: The SKKS-verse belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Yong-ha's suggestion on where to wear perfume is a quote attributed to Coco Chanel.
Technical Notes: Most of the information on cosmetics in this chapter is based on my research on materials and methods used during the Joseon period. Further, Korean cosmetic culture reportedly includes the use of ornaments (binyeo and norigae) and not just makeup, so they are featured here as well.
Author's Notes: Thank you and welcome back to knweaye! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter :)
Chapter Five
Iseul ducked her head, her cheeks aflame. She really had no idea how staring at Jung-soo was supposed to help, especially since Joseon garb left everything to the imagination, but she still couldn't help doing so. He was back from his business trip to Haeju and his sister had again sweet-talked him into sitting in during her painting lesson, and Iseul had to grab every chance she could in case she saw something important. She fervently hoped he hadn't noticed her ogling him.
Of course, as luck would have it, the very next thing the young merchant did was to ask, “Are you all right, Teacher Kim?”
Jung-hwa's head shot up from the work that had, for once, been taking up all of her attention. “Something's wrong with seonsaengnim?” she demanded.
“No, no!” Iseul chirped with false cheer. “Nothing's wrong. I just have quite a few things on my mind, that's all.”
“Well, it might help if you discussed your problems with someone,” Jung-soo said with a friendly smile that seemed to indicate that he was willing to lend an ear.
Even a novice flirt would recognize that this was a prime opportunity to converse with him (perhaps even in private!), and she might have seized upon it under different circumstances. Unfortunately, in this case Iseul had no choice but to keep her troubles behind her teeth: Hwa-jae had just received an order with a special request that the painting feature an unclothed male. Given her limited knowledge of the subject, she was puzzling over how she might do some “research” to help her fill the order.
“It's nothing that won't take care of itself, Master Bang,” she said. “Please, no one need worry about me.”
“We can't help it, seonsaengnim,” Jung-hwa told her matter-of-factly. “You're the best painting teacher that I've ever had. If you have problems and won't be able to teach me anymore, I'll be completely hopeless.” She put down her paintbrush with a pout, the very picture of despair.
“I promise it won't come to that, agasshi,” Iseul assured her.
“Nonetheless, Teacher Kim,” Jung-soo said, “please know that you can always come to me if you ever need help. It's the least I can do after all you've done for my sister.” The aforementioned sister nodded earnestly.
Iseul wondered how they would react if she asked him right then and there if he could take off all his clothes so that she could have a look at him, but quickly quelled the temptation to do so. Instead, she gave him a noncommittal smile and said, “Thank you, Master Bang. I'll keep that in mind.”
“How about this one, Abeonim? It's pretty, right?”
“Yes, but it's not quite what I'm looking for.”
“Well, what are you looking for? We must have looked at ten thousand different things already!”
“I'm hungry!”
“Can we have snacks at your shop, Uncle Yong-ha? We promise we won't make a mess like last time!”
Remembering the disaster that “last time” had been, Jae-shin shot his friend an embarrassed look. “We'll get something to eat on the way home, Jin-young.”
“What are you talking about, Geol-oh?” Yong-ha said. “I ordered snacks for all of us as soon as Ga-rang told me about this visit.” And put the most expensive merchandise as far out of reach of children as I could get them, he added silently. “Of course you'll eat at my shop before you go home.
“Besides,” he went on in a low voice, “at the rate our friend is going, he'll probably need to buy something from me just to get things over with. He's worse than the most indecisive ahjumma.”
“I heard that, sa-hyung,” Sun-joon said as he and his son inspected a set of ceramic cosmetic cases for sale at a nearby stall.
Just then, they heard a voice drawl, “Well, well... who do we have here?” The men turned to find Ha In-soo sauntering over to them. The plume on his hat fluttered gently in the breeze. “What a charming sight.”
“Naturally,” Yong-ha responded, preening as though he was the only source of charm in the immediate vicinity. “Good day, Officer Ha. Nice weather we're having, isn't it?”
“Boys, make your greetings to your Uncle In-soo,” Jae-shin ordered. The smirk he then gave his former partner contrasted nicely with his sons' polite bows. “Have you been demoted to patrolman?”
“If you must know,” In-soo replied as he patted Hak-young on the head, “we're short-handed today and I volunteered to fill in.” He arched an eyebrow at the little group. “Is it your turn to mind the children today, gentlemen?”
“If you must know," Yong-ha told him, mimicking the other man's lofty tone, "we're shopping.”
“I'm not sure if that's any better than minding children.”
“I wanted to buy a present for my wife,” Sun-joon explained, “and I asked my seniors to come and help me choose something.”
“And we're going to ask all the merchants to choose Uncle Yong-ha as their leader!” Hyun-seok piped up.
“Oh, that's right,” In-soo said to Yong-ha, “you're in that chamber of commerce that the tradespeople have set up. When is the election?”
“In a few weeks,” he answered.
The other man nodded. “Good luck.”
In-soo stayed to chat a while, after which he took his leave to resume his duties. Miraculously-or perhaps because of Yong-ha's earlier comment about his indecisiveness-Sun-joon purchased a set of jeweled hairpins at the very next stall. Not to be outdone, Jae-shin impulsively selected for his own wife a silver hand mirror with a mountain scene etched into its back.
“Useful as well as pretty,” Yong-ha observed with an approving nod. “Well done, Geol-oh. Apparently you have better luck choosing presents when you don't think too hard about them.”
“Thank you,” his friend replied dryly.
“Ahjusshi,” Hyun-seok said to the man wrapping up the purchases, “will you vote for Uncle Yong-ha at your election?”
“Hyun-seok!” chorused Yong-ha and Sun-joon.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper only chuckled at the boy's forward behavior. “Don't worry, son,” he replied. “Your uncle has my vote. He's the only one out of all of them who talks any sense.”
“You're too kind, Master Ahn,” Yong-ha said modestly. However, he couldn't help adding, “But, er, you wouldn't mind saying the same thing to anyone else who asks, would you?”
Master Ahn winked, being no stranger to the power of word-of-mouth marketing. “Consider it done.”
Male voices and the laughter of children echoed down the normally quiet street as Iseul walked to Yong-ha's shop. Chin-hae, who was accompanying her, looked around in puzzlement. “Madam Ok's food stand must be doing very well,” he remarked.
Moments later, they were surprised to discover that the noise was coming from within Yong-ha's shop. Masculine shadows were silhouetted against the rice paper walls and Iseul could hear feet pounding on the wooden floor.
The footsteps grew louder as a decidedly short shadow drew near. The door opened and a plump little boy peered outside, looking surprised when he saw her. “Uncle Yong-ha, there's a lady here!”
“Is there?” The child opened the door wider and Yong-ha's face popped into view. “So it is! Hello there, Teacher Kim!”
“Hello, Master Gu,” she replied, and blushed when she saw the little group sitting around his low tea table, apparently in the middle of a gathering. “We, er, have an appointment...?”
“Ah, yes, of course!” the merchant said, seemingly unruffled despite the awkwardness of the situation. “You must forgive me, I spent the day with my friends and completely lost track of the time. May I introduce you to my guests? These are two of my dearest friends in the world, Lord Moon Jae-shin and Lord Lee Sun-joon, and their sons. Gentlemen, this is Kim Iseul, one of the finest painting teachers in Joseon.”
One of the older children smiled at her, revealing a missing front tooth. “You're pretty.”
“And you're too forward,” one of the men chided the boy. It was plain, from the marked resemblance in their features, that they were father and son.
“He's just making up for his father's lack of charm,” Yong-ha laughed.
“His mother thinks I'm charming enough.”
The other guest, a bearded man in scholar's garb, quickly suppressed a smile. “I, ah, suppose we should start for home,” he suggested. “If Yong-ha sa-hyung has an important appointment, then we must not keep him from it. Come, Hyun-seok.”
Despite Iseul's offers to come back at another time, the guests corralled their sons and took their leave. “Think nothing of it!” Yong-ha assured her after they had gone and his servants, with Chin-hae's help, set about clearing the used dishes. “It was past time my friends went home anyway. Had they stayed any longer, their wives would have been too sleepy to be appropriately grateful for their presents.
“Besides, they can come and visit me again anytime,” he added when she continued to hang back, and gestured towards the table, now set with fresh food and drink. “Please, sit and eat something while I prepare for our lesson.”
Iseul obligingly picked up a rice cake filled with sweet bean paste. The morsel was delicious, and somehow helped her feel less terrible about intruding. As she ate, she watched the merchant bring out a parcel that made a most curious clinking sound. It wasn't until he removed its magenta silk wrapping to reveal a lacquered box with a mirror in its lid that she realized that the day's lesson would be about cosmetics.
“Confucius teaches us that rightness of character will manifest itself in a person's physical being,” Yong-ha began as he unpacked an assortment of small porcelain containers from the box. “However, I don't see anything wrong with making oneself beautiful on the outside as well as on and the inside. Your physical appearance is what first catches the interest of a potential mate, while it is your character that will determine if you can hold his interest.”
“You have a point, but....” She eyed the containers uncertainly. She kept herself clean and neat, and made sure to protect her skin from harsh wind and sun, but had never really tried to do more with her appearance. “You're not going to teach me how to make myself look like a gisaeng, are you?”
“Not at all!” he assured her. “Regular women paint their faces, too, but of course to a lesser degree. I will teach you to use these things to highlight your features while still retaining a natural appearance. As with all things related to beauty and good taste, balance is the key.”
They began with the face powder. Unlike a gisaeng's all-white powder, this was applied only lightly and had ground clay mixed into it to allow the wearer's face to retain some color. Yong-ha said that he had had to guess at how much clay was needed to match Iseul's naturally pale skin, and was delighted when that the result suited her complexion perfectly. “You don't look sunburned, and you also don't look like a piece of ddeok,” he said with satisfaction. “I guess I have an eye for these things.”
Next, there was a small pot of fine soot. Mixed with oil from a small bottle, it was applied with a fine brush to emphasize and shape the eyebrows. Another pot contained powdered red safflower for rouging the cheeks. This was also mixed with oil to color the lips. It took Iseul a few tries to master the mixture and application of the cosmetics, but once she did, her own artistic skills enabled her to put them on with a subtle but effective hand.
“I can shade my face to make it look thinner,” she laughed as she dabbed on a little more rouge just under her cheekbones. “It is literally painting!”
The merchant chuckled indulgently. “You can, but you must learn not to do it too much. Then you'll really look like a gisaeng.”
After wiping away the excess rouge with a handkerchief, Iseul discovered that there was more. Another, larger bottle of oil was for keeping the hair sleek and shiny, and there was a pot of scented balm for moisturizing the face and hands. There were even a few hairpins and norigaes. Finally, there was a bottle of perfume.
“The selection of a perfume could be an entire lesson in itself,” Yong-ha told her, “but learning how to wear it is easy enough. You must not, of course, douse yourself in it-a hint of scent is infinitely more tantalizing. And you must not put it on your clothes, because it might stain them beyond repair. Perfume is best worn on the skin.”
She eased out the stopper and sniffed tentatively. The perfume smelled most strongly of flowers, but a hint of spice kept it from being cloying. “Where on the skin should I wear it?” she asked.
He pondered this for a moment, then grinned. “Wherever you might want to be kissed.”
Iseul blinked, taken aback at the answer. “Wouldn't that taste bad?” she blurted out.
“I'm not saying you should put it on your lips!” he laughed. “There are other places a person can be kissed. You just have to use your imagination.”
“Iseul? Iseul!” Chae-mi's voice broke into her thoughts. “Ya! Are you listening to me?”
“Of course I am,” she replied, even though that wasn't entirely true. “You were talking about how your father's apprentice has teeth like a horse.”
“He does!” The other girl pouted and popped a blackberry into her mouth. A relative had sent them from the countryside, so Chae-mi brought some next door to share along with the earth-shaking news involving her father's apprentice. “And he smells like wet clay all the time. Worst of all, I don't think he even knows how to talk. I can't believe my father is thinking of marrying me off to a creature like that!”
“He's only thinking about it,” Iseul pointed out. She tossed a berry into the air. Kyeo-ul, sitting at their feet, leapt up to catch it. “It's not a done deal yet.”
“It's as good as done!”
Then at least you won't need flirting lessons, Iseul wanted to say, then blushed as the memories of yesterday's lesson entered her mind for what must have been the thousandth time that day.
There really was nothing to be so upset about, she reminded herself. Gu Yong-ha was always saying outrageous things. She ought to be used to that by now, enough to not get affected-and especially not in that way.
She had read and illustrated enough erotic texts to know the meaning behind that little tug and tingle she had felt deep inside when he told her where a woman should wear perfume. That was disturbing enough; what made things worse was that she continued to have that reaction whenever she thought about it. She had even done so during Bang Jung-hwa's painting lesson that afternoon. The girl's brother had put in another appearance, but rather than focus on winning Jung-soo's attentions, Iseul had wasted the opportunity and struggled not to think about Yong-ha instead.
“Get a hold of yourself!”
Chae-mi broke off in mid-sentence and even Kyeo-ul raised his head from her knee. Iseul realized that she had spoken aloud. “I'm sorry,” she stammered, groping for words to explain without admitting that she had barely been listening. “That wasn't-I didn't mean-“
Fortunately, the other girl didn't seem angry. “No, you're right,” Chae-mi said with a sigh. “You know my father-the more I fight this, the more Abeonim will insist on throwing us together. I should try to look at the good in all of this. Maybe this can be practice for when I meet someone I truly like! Like you and your flirting lessons!”
As her friend tried to paint her situation in the best possible light, Iseul did her best to take her own advice and calm down. Her reaction was perfectly normal, she told herself. After all, no one had ever said such things to her before.
Besides, she was also very caught up in thinking of ideas for Hwa-jae's latest order. It was making her very conscious of all the men around her, and therefore quite jumpy.
Yes, that's it. And now I must stop thinking about that and start worrying about what's really important.
There was absolutely nothing for it.
Iseul didn't know anyone who might be able to answer some questions about the male form, let alone actually model for her. (For all his outrageousness, Gu Yong-ha was not an option at all.) She also could not ask Chin-hae to buy a book that she could use as a reference-the manservant was at enough risk, doing the work that he did on Hwa-jae's behalf, and it would embarrass both him and his wife if he were found out.
However, a book was her best hope, and so one morning she stole out of the house in her oldest hanbok, with a drab blue cloak concealing her face, and made her way to Master Hwang's bookshop.
It was easy enough to walk in and browse through the tamer selections along with the rest of the patrons. Perhaps she might even be able to move unobstrusively towards the back room, where books such as the ones Hwa-jae illustrated were sold. The real challenge lay in being lucky enough to procure the kind of book she needed without incident.
There were many books with illustrations of the female form. After all, most of the readers of erotic texts were men and that was what they wanted. Iseul had heard that there were some with illustrations of men, too, but because Hwa-jae had never received any orders for them, she didn't know of any titles or authors of such works.
She shook her head in annoyance. The next time this happened, she decided, she would turn down the order. Even though it meant doing without the commission, it could also help Hwa-jae develop a reputation for being exclusive and discriminating, and she might be able to raise her prices.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm. Iseul looked up, her cloak falling away, and her heart stopped when she saw that it was Yong-ha who had accosted her.
“Teacher Kim!” he hissed. “I am shocked!”
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Disclaimer: The SKKS-verse belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Yong-ha's suggestion on where to wear perfume is a quote attributed to Coco Chanel.
Technical Notes: Most of the information on cosmetics in this chapter is based on my research on materials and methods used during the Joseon period. Further, Korean cosmetic culture reportedly includes the use of ornaments (binyeo and norigae) and not just makeup, so they are featured here as well.
Author's Notes: Thank you and welcome back to knweaye! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter :)
Chapter Five
Iseul ducked her head, her cheeks aflame. She really had no idea how staring at Jung-soo was supposed to help, especially since Joseon garb left everything to the imagination, but she still couldn't help doing so. He was back from his business trip to Haeju and his sister had again sweet-talked him into sitting in during her painting lesson, and Iseul had to grab every chance she could in case she saw something important. She fervently hoped he hadn't noticed her ogling him.
Of course, as luck would have it, the very next thing the young merchant did was to ask, “Are you all right, Teacher Kim?”
Jung-hwa's head shot up from the work that had, for once, been taking up all of her attention. “Something's wrong with seonsaengnim?” she demanded.
“No, no!” Iseul chirped with false cheer. “Nothing's wrong. I just have quite a few things on my mind, that's all.”
“Well, it might help if you discussed your problems with someone,” Jung-soo said with a friendly smile that seemed to indicate that he was willing to lend an ear.
Even a novice flirt would recognize that this was a prime opportunity to converse with him (perhaps even in private!), and she might have seized upon it under different circumstances. Unfortunately, in this case Iseul had no choice but to keep her troubles behind her teeth: Hwa-jae had just received an order with a special request that the painting feature an unclothed male. Given her limited knowledge of the subject, she was puzzling over how she might do some “research” to help her fill the order.
“It's nothing that won't take care of itself, Master Bang,” she said. “Please, no one need worry about me.”
“We can't help it, seonsaengnim,” Jung-hwa told her matter-of-factly. “You're the best painting teacher that I've ever had. If you have problems and won't be able to teach me anymore, I'll be completely hopeless.” She put down her paintbrush with a pout, the very picture of despair.
“I promise it won't come to that, agasshi,” Iseul assured her.
“Nonetheless, Teacher Kim,” Jung-soo said, “please know that you can always come to me if you ever need help. It's the least I can do after all you've done for my sister.” The aforementioned sister nodded earnestly.
Iseul wondered how they would react if she asked him right then and there if he could take off all his clothes so that she could have a look at him, but quickly quelled the temptation to do so. Instead, she gave him a noncommittal smile and said, “Thank you, Master Bang. I'll keep that in mind.”
“How about this one, Abeonim? It's pretty, right?”
“Yes, but it's not quite what I'm looking for.”
“Well, what are you looking for? We must have looked at ten thousand different things already!”
“I'm hungry!”
“Can we have snacks at your shop, Uncle Yong-ha? We promise we won't make a mess like last time!”
Remembering the disaster that “last time” had been, Jae-shin shot his friend an embarrassed look. “We'll get something to eat on the way home, Jin-young.”
“What are you talking about, Geol-oh?” Yong-ha said. “I ordered snacks for all of us as soon as Ga-rang told me about this visit.” And put the most expensive merchandise as far out of reach of children as I could get them, he added silently. “Of course you'll eat at my shop before you go home.
“Besides,” he went on in a low voice, “at the rate our friend is going, he'll probably need to buy something from me just to get things over with. He's worse than the most indecisive ahjumma.”
“I heard that, sa-hyung,” Sun-joon said as he and his son inspected a set of ceramic cosmetic cases for sale at a nearby stall.
Just then, they heard a voice drawl, “Well, well... who do we have here?” The men turned to find Ha In-soo sauntering over to them. The plume on his hat fluttered gently in the breeze. “What a charming sight.”
“Naturally,” Yong-ha responded, preening as though he was the only source of charm in the immediate vicinity. “Good day, Officer Ha. Nice weather we're having, isn't it?”
“Boys, make your greetings to your Uncle In-soo,” Jae-shin ordered. The smirk he then gave his former partner contrasted nicely with his sons' polite bows. “Have you been demoted to patrolman?”
“If you must know,” In-soo replied as he patted Hak-young on the head, “we're short-handed today and I volunteered to fill in.” He arched an eyebrow at the little group. “Is it your turn to mind the children today, gentlemen?”
“If you must know," Yong-ha told him, mimicking the other man's lofty tone, "we're shopping.”
“I'm not sure if that's any better than minding children.”
“I wanted to buy a present for my wife,” Sun-joon explained, “and I asked my seniors to come and help me choose something.”
“And we're going to ask all the merchants to choose Uncle Yong-ha as their leader!” Hyun-seok piped up.
“Oh, that's right,” In-soo said to Yong-ha, “you're in that chamber of commerce that the tradespeople have set up. When is the election?”
“In a few weeks,” he answered.
The other man nodded. “Good luck.”
In-soo stayed to chat a while, after which he took his leave to resume his duties. Miraculously-or perhaps because of Yong-ha's earlier comment about his indecisiveness-Sun-joon purchased a set of jeweled hairpins at the very next stall. Not to be outdone, Jae-shin impulsively selected for his own wife a silver hand mirror with a mountain scene etched into its back.
“Useful as well as pretty,” Yong-ha observed with an approving nod. “Well done, Geol-oh. Apparently you have better luck choosing presents when you don't think too hard about them.”
“Thank you,” his friend replied dryly.
“Ahjusshi,” Hyun-seok said to the man wrapping up the purchases, “will you vote for Uncle Yong-ha at your election?”
“Hyun-seok!” chorused Yong-ha and Sun-joon.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper only chuckled at the boy's forward behavior. “Don't worry, son,” he replied. “Your uncle has my vote. He's the only one out of all of them who talks any sense.”
“You're too kind, Master Ahn,” Yong-ha said modestly. However, he couldn't help adding, “But, er, you wouldn't mind saying the same thing to anyone else who asks, would you?”
Master Ahn winked, being no stranger to the power of word-of-mouth marketing. “Consider it done.”
Male voices and the laughter of children echoed down the normally quiet street as Iseul walked to Yong-ha's shop. Chin-hae, who was accompanying her, looked around in puzzlement. “Madam Ok's food stand must be doing very well,” he remarked.
Moments later, they were surprised to discover that the noise was coming from within Yong-ha's shop. Masculine shadows were silhouetted against the rice paper walls and Iseul could hear feet pounding on the wooden floor.
The footsteps grew louder as a decidedly short shadow drew near. The door opened and a plump little boy peered outside, looking surprised when he saw her. “Uncle Yong-ha, there's a lady here!”
“Is there?” The child opened the door wider and Yong-ha's face popped into view. “So it is! Hello there, Teacher Kim!”
“Hello, Master Gu,” she replied, and blushed when she saw the little group sitting around his low tea table, apparently in the middle of a gathering. “We, er, have an appointment...?”
“Ah, yes, of course!” the merchant said, seemingly unruffled despite the awkwardness of the situation. “You must forgive me, I spent the day with my friends and completely lost track of the time. May I introduce you to my guests? These are two of my dearest friends in the world, Lord Moon Jae-shin and Lord Lee Sun-joon, and their sons. Gentlemen, this is Kim Iseul, one of the finest painting teachers in Joseon.”
One of the older children smiled at her, revealing a missing front tooth. “You're pretty.”
“And you're too forward,” one of the men chided the boy. It was plain, from the marked resemblance in their features, that they were father and son.
“He's just making up for his father's lack of charm,” Yong-ha laughed.
“His mother thinks I'm charming enough.”
The other guest, a bearded man in scholar's garb, quickly suppressed a smile. “I, ah, suppose we should start for home,” he suggested. “If Yong-ha sa-hyung has an important appointment, then we must not keep him from it. Come, Hyun-seok.”
Despite Iseul's offers to come back at another time, the guests corralled their sons and took their leave. “Think nothing of it!” Yong-ha assured her after they had gone and his servants, with Chin-hae's help, set about clearing the used dishes. “It was past time my friends went home anyway. Had they stayed any longer, their wives would have been too sleepy to be appropriately grateful for their presents.
“Besides, they can come and visit me again anytime,” he added when she continued to hang back, and gestured towards the table, now set with fresh food and drink. “Please, sit and eat something while I prepare for our lesson.”
Iseul obligingly picked up a rice cake filled with sweet bean paste. The morsel was delicious, and somehow helped her feel less terrible about intruding. As she ate, she watched the merchant bring out a parcel that made a most curious clinking sound. It wasn't until he removed its magenta silk wrapping to reveal a lacquered box with a mirror in its lid that she realized that the day's lesson would be about cosmetics.
“Confucius teaches us that rightness of character will manifest itself in a person's physical being,” Yong-ha began as he unpacked an assortment of small porcelain containers from the box. “However, I don't see anything wrong with making oneself beautiful on the outside as well as on and the inside. Your physical appearance is what first catches the interest of a potential mate, while it is your character that will determine if you can hold his interest.”
“You have a point, but....” She eyed the containers uncertainly. She kept herself clean and neat, and made sure to protect her skin from harsh wind and sun, but had never really tried to do more with her appearance. “You're not going to teach me how to make myself look like a gisaeng, are you?”
“Not at all!” he assured her. “Regular women paint their faces, too, but of course to a lesser degree. I will teach you to use these things to highlight your features while still retaining a natural appearance. As with all things related to beauty and good taste, balance is the key.”
They began with the face powder. Unlike a gisaeng's all-white powder, this was applied only lightly and had ground clay mixed into it to allow the wearer's face to retain some color. Yong-ha said that he had had to guess at how much clay was needed to match Iseul's naturally pale skin, and was delighted when that the result suited her complexion perfectly. “You don't look sunburned, and you also don't look like a piece of ddeok,” he said with satisfaction. “I guess I have an eye for these things.”
Next, there was a small pot of fine soot. Mixed with oil from a small bottle, it was applied with a fine brush to emphasize and shape the eyebrows. Another pot contained powdered red safflower for rouging the cheeks. This was also mixed with oil to color the lips. It took Iseul a few tries to master the mixture and application of the cosmetics, but once she did, her own artistic skills enabled her to put them on with a subtle but effective hand.
“I can shade my face to make it look thinner,” she laughed as she dabbed on a little more rouge just under her cheekbones. “It is literally painting!”
The merchant chuckled indulgently. “You can, but you must learn not to do it too much. Then you'll really look like a gisaeng.”
After wiping away the excess rouge with a handkerchief, Iseul discovered that there was more. Another, larger bottle of oil was for keeping the hair sleek and shiny, and there was a pot of scented balm for moisturizing the face and hands. There were even a few hairpins and norigaes. Finally, there was a bottle of perfume.
“The selection of a perfume could be an entire lesson in itself,” Yong-ha told her, “but learning how to wear it is easy enough. You must not, of course, douse yourself in it-a hint of scent is infinitely more tantalizing. And you must not put it on your clothes, because it might stain them beyond repair. Perfume is best worn on the skin.”
She eased out the stopper and sniffed tentatively. The perfume smelled most strongly of flowers, but a hint of spice kept it from being cloying. “Where on the skin should I wear it?” she asked.
He pondered this for a moment, then grinned. “Wherever you might want to be kissed.”
Iseul blinked, taken aback at the answer. “Wouldn't that taste bad?” she blurted out.
“I'm not saying you should put it on your lips!” he laughed. “There are other places a person can be kissed. You just have to use your imagination.”
“Iseul? Iseul!” Chae-mi's voice broke into her thoughts. “Ya! Are you listening to me?”
“Of course I am,” she replied, even though that wasn't entirely true. “You were talking about how your father's apprentice has teeth like a horse.”
“He does!” The other girl pouted and popped a blackberry into her mouth. A relative had sent them from the countryside, so Chae-mi brought some next door to share along with the earth-shaking news involving her father's apprentice. “And he smells like wet clay all the time. Worst of all, I don't think he even knows how to talk. I can't believe my father is thinking of marrying me off to a creature like that!”
“He's only thinking about it,” Iseul pointed out. She tossed a berry into the air. Kyeo-ul, sitting at their feet, leapt up to catch it. “It's not a done deal yet.”
“It's as good as done!”
Then at least you won't need flirting lessons, Iseul wanted to say, then blushed as the memories of yesterday's lesson entered her mind for what must have been the thousandth time that day.
There really was nothing to be so upset about, she reminded herself. Gu Yong-ha was always saying outrageous things. She ought to be used to that by now, enough to not get affected-and especially not in that way.
She had read and illustrated enough erotic texts to know the meaning behind that little tug and tingle she had felt deep inside when he told her where a woman should wear perfume. That was disturbing enough; what made things worse was that she continued to have that reaction whenever she thought about it. She had even done so during Bang Jung-hwa's painting lesson that afternoon. The girl's brother had put in another appearance, but rather than focus on winning Jung-soo's attentions, Iseul had wasted the opportunity and struggled not to think about Yong-ha instead.
“Get a hold of yourself!”
Chae-mi broke off in mid-sentence and even Kyeo-ul raised his head from her knee. Iseul realized that she had spoken aloud. “I'm sorry,” she stammered, groping for words to explain without admitting that she had barely been listening. “That wasn't-I didn't mean-“
Fortunately, the other girl didn't seem angry. “No, you're right,” Chae-mi said with a sigh. “You know my father-the more I fight this, the more Abeonim will insist on throwing us together. I should try to look at the good in all of this. Maybe this can be practice for when I meet someone I truly like! Like you and your flirting lessons!”
As her friend tried to paint her situation in the best possible light, Iseul did her best to take her own advice and calm down. Her reaction was perfectly normal, she told herself. After all, no one had ever said such things to her before.
Besides, she was also very caught up in thinking of ideas for Hwa-jae's latest order. It was making her very conscious of all the men around her, and therefore quite jumpy.
Yes, that's it. And now I must stop thinking about that and start worrying about what's really important.
There was absolutely nothing for it.
Iseul didn't know anyone who might be able to answer some questions about the male form, let alone actually model for her. (For all his outrageousness, Gu Yong-ha was not an option at all.) She also could not ask Chin-hae to buy a book that she could use as a reference-the manservant was at enough risk, doing the work that he did on Hwa-jae's behalf, and it would embarrass both him and his wife if he were found out.
However, a book was her best hope, and so one morning she stole out of the house in her oldest hanbok, with a drab blue cloak concealing her face, and made her way to Master Hwang's bookshop.
It was easy enough to walk in and browse through the tamer selections along with the rest of the patrons. Perhaps she might even be able to move unobstrusively towards the back room, where books such as the ones Hwa-jae illustrated were sold. The real challenge lay in being lucky enough to procure the kind of book she needed without incident.
There were many books with illustrations of the female form. After all, most of the readers of erotic texts were men and that was what they wanted. Iseul had heard that there were some with illustrations of men, too, but because Hwa-jae had never received any orders for them, she didn't know of any titles or authors of such works.
She shook her head in annoyance. The next time this happened, she decided, she would turn down the order. Even though it meant doing without the commission, it could also help Hwa-jae develop a reputation for being exclusive and discriminating, and she might be able to raise her prices.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm. Iseul looked up, her cloak falling away, and her heart stopped when she saw that it was Yong-ha who had accosted her.
“Teacher Kim!” he hissed. “I am shocked!”