Two For the Price of One, Ch. 9
Previously:
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: The SKKS-verse belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal.
Technical Notes: As described in this chapter, garakji is the term for a pair of special rings worn by married women to symbolize the harmony between husband and wife. A gift of garakji from a man to a single woman signifies his intent to marry her. (He could also give her binyeo, as Jae-shin did to Ka-hai in Taming the Crazy Horse.)
Author's Notes: Thank you to naddyamal, knweaye, Anonymous, and Robelyn (welcome back!!!) for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Chapter Nine
“Seonsaengniiiiim!”
Iseul-and the Bangs' maid who had accompanied her into the house-started at the anguished wail and rushed over to Jung-hwa, who sat slumped behind the low table upon which they conducted her lessons. “What is it, agasshi?!” Iseul asked urgently. “What's wrong?!”
“You're going to marry Master Gu Yong-ha!” the girl accused, the very picture of despair.
She sighed, partly from relief that Jung-hwa was unhurt and also from exasperation that they would now have to talk about that. “Ah... yes,” she replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Why didn't you tell me he was courting you?”
“It, ah, was a secret.” She busied herself with setting out her paints as an excuse to avoid her student's eyes. “We didn't know whether our families would approve.”
“So they've agreed to the match?” Jung-hwa asked, forgetting her distress and leaning forward eagerly. “And Master Gu asked you to marry him right away? How did he ask you? Was it so very, very romantic?”
“I suppose it was,” she said evasively, throwing in a small smile to try and make it convincing.
“So what did he do exactly?” pressed the Bangs' maid, who apparently hadn't left the room. Both teacher and student looked at her with some surprise, but the servant stayed put, waiting for an answer.
Iseul laughed self-consciously. “What did he do?” she repeated, stalling for time as she wracked her brain for a suitable story. “Well... I visited his shop at closing time one day, and he invited me to go for a stroll before going home. Then, while we were walking, he proposed.”
Jung-hwa wrinkled her nose. “That was it? You went for a walk and he asked you? He didn't even write you a poem, or sing you a song, or do anything like that?”
“No. I don't think he had even planned to ask at that particular moment.” She chuckled, pretending to be amused by the memory. “But I thought his proposal was perfect.”
“Was it a nice walk, at least?”
“I thought it was lovely.” Slowly, the scene took shape in her imagination. “Dusk had just fallen. We walked on a quiet street, so we were the only people there, and even though the weather has turned cold these days, I barely felt it.”
“Did he kiss you? Did he tell you that he loves you?”
Iseul blushed as the innocent questions sent off her little flight of fancy in a new, not-so-innocent direction. “I can't tell; that's too private.”
“He did!” the Bangs' maid declared. She and her mistress squealed with delight.
With an inward sigh, Iseul decided to leave them to their conclusions and tried to put an end to the discussion. “But he could have asked me at high noon in the middle of the busiest street in town and I still would have accepted,” she continued briskly. “When the right man asks you to marry him, the details don't really matter.” Ah, that was good, Kim Iseul, she congratulated herself when her audience sighed wistfully. You'll have to remember that one in case anyone else asks about the proposal.
“Master Gu is awfully handsome,” Jung-hwa admitted.
“And charming,” her servant chimed in dreamily.
This time, her young mistress sent her an impatient look. “Could you get our snacks, please, Dal-ja?”
Finally remembering her place, Dal-ja flushed and rose to her feet. “Yes, agasshi.”
Jung-hwa sidled closer to Iseul when the servant had quit the room. “But, seonsaengnim, I'm still really disappointed,” she confided. “I was hoping that you and my orabeoni would fall in love and get married. We could have been sisters.”
Iseul resisted the temptation to say that she, too, was disappointed, and for the very same reasons. The girl would have made a valuable ally in winning over Bang Jung-soo, but it was too late to continue pursuing him. Instead, she said with false brightness, “Well, even if we won't become sisters, we can still be friends, can't we?”
Not only did Iseul have to console Jung-hwa throughout their lesson, she also had to field Jung-soo's good-natured congratulations when the young man dropped by afterwards. (Mercifully, his sister did not say anything about pairing them together during the conversation.) Worst of all, she had to look appropriately thrilled when Dal-ja turned up to announce that Yong-ha had come to fetch her.
While Chin-hae, being a servant, always waited for her by the gate, Iseul's “betrothed” was ensconced in the Bangs' finest front room. “Surprise, darling!” he caroled, rising to his feet when she arrived with her student, her student's older brother, and their maid all in tow. His brilliant smile, along with his persimmon-colored overcoat, was a stark contrast to the somber décor that the Bang family favored.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted out stupidly.
“Why, I've come to take you home, of course! I've discussed it with your servant and we agree that I should take over this particular duty, at least as often as my schedule will allow.”
Fortunately, Jung-soo stepped in at this point, sparing her from having to think of a reply. “Hello, Master Gu,” he greeted the new arrival. “Welcome to our home.”
“Hello, Master Bang!” he replied cheerfully. “I didn't know you were taking painting lessons from my lovely fiancée.”
The other man chuckled. “Oh, I'm not, though I know that she is a most excellent teacher. My younger sister, Jung-hwa, is the one taking lessons.”
Seizing the opportunity to present herself, the girl bowed prettily. “Hello, Master Gu. I'm Bang Jung-hwa. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Naturally, Yong-ha was prepared with a charming smile and a smooth reply. “I assure you, agasshi, the pleasure is all mine.”
“We've just heard that you and Teacher Kim are betrothed,” Jung-soo continued as his sister beamed at the acknowledgement. “Please accept our congratulations.”
“Thank you, Master Bang.” He sauntered over to Iseul's side and took her hand. “I hope you'll convey my apologies to all the young men of Joseon for snapping her up before anyone else had the chance to get a good look at her. I had to take my chance when I saw it; otherwise, I would have had to drive you all off with a stick.”
“I'm sure that wouldn't have been necessary,” his “betrothed” demurred.
Jung-soo seemed to think so, too, for he laughed uproariously at the request. Iseul wasn't sure whether or not to be insulted by that. “I'll be sure to do that,” he answered, but he was still chuckling as he spoke.
“And Master Gu,” Jung-hwa broke in, sounding far more earnest than her brother, “I hope you'll take care of seonsaengnim. She's very dear to me.”
“She's even more precious to me, agasshi,” Yong-ha told her gravely. “So, I assure you, I'll take very good care of her.
“Now, my dear,” he continued, addressing Iseul this time, “we should be on our way. I promised your grandmother that I would bring you home before dark. Any later than that, and I might just be tempted to carry you off.”
“Did you have to be so... excessive?”
“Excessive?” Yong-ha repeated, glancing over his shoulder at his “betrothed,” who was riding pillion behind him.
“Yes.” She frowned. “You know, calling me all those pet names, talking about driving people away with sticks and carrying me off. Things like that. It was so embarrassing.
“And this,” she continued, trying to edge as far away from him as she could without sliding off the horse's rump. “We're making a spectacle of ourselves.”
He rolled his eyes as he turned back to face the road. For an artist, Kim Iseul didn't seem to have a romantic bone in her body. “The point of all of this,” he told her, speaking in a low voice that only she could hear, “is to convince everyone that we are truly a couple. We agreed to that, remember?” He reached behind him to put her arms around his waist. “Now, come closer and hold on to me before you fall off.”
Iseul allowed him to pull her closer, but she held herself stiffly, hands locked together at a level with his chest. “Is this how you ride a horse with another person?” Yong-ha asked her, trying to push them down so that he could breathe.
She released him abruptly. “I was trying to remain respectful and not get too familiar.”
“I appreciate the thought, but around the waist is still proper and would be more comfortable for us both.” He arranged her arms around him to illustrate. “I'll let you go lower than that only when I'm sure that I can trust you with my virtue.”
She let out a little chuh of disbelief. “You're joking, right?”
“On the contrary, I am completely serious. This is your lesson for the day.”
“What? We're going to continue those flirting lessons?”
“Of course!” Yong-ha declared, sounding aghast that she would even think of asking such a thing. “I should do everything in my power to improve your future chances of getting married for real, shouldn't I?”
He grinned when Iseul grumbled something unintelligible. Needling her was hardly the best way to deal with this pretend betrothal, but he supposed that he might as well get as much fun as he could out of the situation.
Yong-ha was still amused the next day, during the Jalgeum Quartet's semi-regular gathering at the Sungkyunkwan University archery range. He had come no closer to actually firing off an arrow over the years, but continued to turn up in order to get out of the shop and spend time with his friends.
“What's so funny?” Jae-shin asked, glancing at his oldest friend as he lined up a shot. “And don't tell me that it's my outfit. That joke was old ten years ago.”
Sun-joon chuckled. “When a betrothed man is smiling secretively like that, he could only be thinking about his bride-to-be,” he concluded.
“I didn't smile like that when I was betrothed.”
“No, but you more than made up for it after you got married,” Yong-ha told Jae-shin just as he let fly.
The jibe disrupted the other man's shot, and the arrow hit the outermost ring of the target with a small thunk. He couldn't help but take a small step back when Jae-shin glared at the errant arrow, and then at him.
Yoon-hee intervened by steering the conversation back to slightly less dangerous waters. “Have you set a date for the wedding yet, sa-hyung?” she asked Yong-ha, her eyes bright with anticipation.
“No, not yet,” he replied evasively. “We haven't even visited each other's families yet. But we will soon,” he added, to keep his friend from worrying and asking more questions.
As he spoke, he thought about the things that he and Iseul needed to do before paying the required visits. Although her first order from Yong-ha's shop had long been completed, he intended to put his seamstresses to work preparing a hanbok that she could wear to meet his family. (Naturally, the rush order would include appropriate cold-weather clothing; the coat she had worn yesterday was a disgrace.) They also needed to purchase garakji-rings to symbolize the harmony between husband and wife, and one of the gifts that a man could give the woman he wished to marry-and schedule a sketching session for Yong-ha's upcoming appointment with an important client.
Why do I get the feeling, he thought, that she would be most excited about that last one?
Suddenly, Jae-shin prodded his shoulder. “Ouch!” Yong-ha exclaimed, rubbing the injured body part. “What was that for?”
“You were smiling like a betrothed man again,” the other man pointed out. “Also, Yoon-hee just invited us all to dinner.”
Yoon-hee nodded. “I just remembered that we haven't properly celebrated your election as head of the Chamber of Commerce, sa-hyung,” she told him with a suspicious flutter of her eyelashes.
“And since you and our Horangi will be present, I might as well bring my fiancée to meet you all, is that it?” Yong-ha concluded, arching an eyebrow.
She grinned, unrepentant at being caught. “Exactly.”
“You know the ladies won't leave you alone until they meet her, sa-hyung,” Sun-joon pointed out sensibly. “So why not just get it over with?”
Faced with such logic, Yong-ha had no choice but to admit defeat. “Fine,” he sighed. “I'll ask her if she's free and let you know, all right?”
“I don't know if introducing me to your friends is a good idea,” Iseul demurred, speaking in a voice so low that Yong-ha had to lean in close to hear.
“It makes me nervous, too,” he murmured back, “but they might think something's wrong if I keep them from meeting you. Perhaps they'll be satisfied if you show up just this once.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “And if they ask to meet me again, I can always tell them that I'm too busy working.”
“They won't be able to argue with that.”
He smiled at her then and her heart gave a funny little skip, but Chae-mi's arrival gave her little time to dwell on that. “What are you two whispering about?” her friend wanted to know as she approached from the other side of the shop.
Iseul and Yong-ha sprang apart at the question. “Nothing,” they chorused.
“Yes, it sure looked like nothing,” Chae-mi said with a sly look.
“Leave them be, Han Chae-mi.” Master Geum, the jeweler, emerged from the back of his shop with a stack of notebooks. “Both Master Gu and Teacher Kim are very busy people, so we should allow them their little private moments.
“Now,” he continued, addressing the “couple” this time, “since you don't yet have a design in mind, I brought out sketches of the garakji that I've done.”
“Wonderful,” Yong-ha said. “Thank you, Master Geum. They should help inspire us. Shall we look at them, darling?”
Iseul let out a tiny squeak when he began to steer her towards the counter where the notebooks lay. She shot him a repressive look, warning him not to get too familiar, but he promptly countered with one of his own, a silent reminder that they needed to convince everyone that they were truly in love.
“Have a care, if you please,” the jeweler chuckled. “Any more smoldering looks between the two of you and my shop might just go up in flames.”
“Forgive me, sir,” Yong-ha said as a shocked giggle burst out of Chae-mi. “I forget myself sometimes.”
“You forget yourself a little more often than that,” Iseul reminded him.
“Can you blame me, my love?” he replied with a grin.
She narrowed her eyes at him, and then turned away and back to Master Geum. “Shall we begin?”
“Certainly, Teacher Kim.” He gave her a diffident look and opened the first notebook. “I hope you'll excuse my poor drawing technique.”
She laughed politely. “Oh, I'm sure your drawing is much better than you are making it sound, sir.”
The drawings did turn out to be well-rendered, and everyone was full of genuine praise for them. “This one is gorgeous!” Chae-mi exclaimed, pointing to a pomegranate design. “You should get this for your rings. The pomegranates have lots of seeds, so you'll have many sons!”
Iseul blushed at the implication, but tried to keep the discussion light. “You sound like you're choosing the design for your rings,” she teased.
“Pooh! I know they're not, but I knew from the very start that you and Master Gu had fallen in love, so I have a vested interest in making sure every detail of this betrothal is perfect.” Chae-mi grabbed her arm and gave it a little shake of excitement. “I can't believe I'm helping you choose your garakji! This makes your betrothal feel so real!
“And you're going to pay your visits soon!” she rambled on. “But should you really visit Master Gu's family first? Maybe you should visit Halmeonim first. After all, she is older, and I think it would be much easier since she already knows Master Gu. Are you nervous?”
“There's no need for my fiancée to be nervous,” Iseul's “betrothed” broke in before she could reply. “I am sure that my family will love her just as much as I do.”
“In that case, they'll adore me,” she managed to banter back.
“You'll have them worshipping at your feet,” Yong-ha agreed with an approving smile that had her feeling flustered all over again.
Fortunately, she could always pretend to be more interested in Master Geum's designs. “This one's quite nice,” Iseul said, pointing at one.
“I suppose, but....” Chae-mi looked dubiously at the sketch of a plain band etched with a pair of fish. “Isn't it a bit too simple?”
“It would probably cost less.”
“That's true,” Yong-ha told her, “but may I remind you, my thrifty beloved, that you're not betrothed to just anybody? Gu Yong-ha can certainly afford something better.”
“You might even say that Master Gu is obliged to buy only the best for his wife,” Master Geum chimed in. “Anything less would be an insult to his family.”
“And an insult to Master Geum's skills,” the younger man added. The jeweler was clearly steering them towards choosing a more elaborate and perhaps more profitable design, but Yong-ha also believed that Iseul did not need to be so frugal. “Come now, darling, what is the point of ordering our garakji from the best jeweler in Joseon if they don't look special?”
Even Chae-mi entered the fray. “Besides, Iseul-ah, you're an artist and Master Gu is well-known for his excellent taste,” she pointed out. “Shouldn't your garakji be beautiful?”
Yong-ha could tell that his “betrothed' was itching to protest some more, but she couldn't very well announce exactly why they didn't need to buy fancy rings. “I knew you would see reason!” he said triumphantly when Iseul was forced to admit defeat. “Now, what do you think of this one? Our rings should definitely have a fertility symbol or two, don't you agree?”
In the end, they did not choose any of Master Geum's designs, but devised one of their own that featured a stylized grapevine, for a long and fruitful marriage. The design would be worked on two bands of amber, a material that the affianced couple agreed would be beautiful and unique. Garakji were made for a wife to wear, one on each hand, but Yong-ha declared that prior to the wedding, he would wear one ring while Iseul wore the other. She would wear them both after they were married.
The idea sent Chae-mi into raptures. “You might have just started a new fashion,” Iseul murmured to him as she raved about the beauty of the gesture to the jeweler, who was only half-listening as he wrote down the details of their order.
“It's what I do, darling,” he told her with a superior air.
“I'm still worried about the cost, though,” she said, frowning. “What will we do with them after... you know?”
He sighed. The garakji were not going to be cheap, but he also did not see the need to lose sleep over them. “We'll worry about that when the time comes, all right?”
Just then, Yong-ha spotted Iseul's friend silently poring over the notebooks, an odd look on her face. “Is anything wrong, Miss Han?” he asked her.
Chae-mi looked up, her cheeks turning pink. “No, nothing's wrong,” she answered with a wistful smile. “I was just daydreaming about my turn to buy garakji, that's all.”
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: The SKKS-verse belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal.
Technical Notes: As described in this chapter, garakji is the term for a pair of special rings worn by married women to symbolize the harmony between husband and wife. A gift of garakji from a man to a single woman signifies his intent to marry her. (He could also give her binyeo, as Jae-shin did to Ka-hai in Taming the Crazy Horse.)
Author's Notes: Thank you to naddyamal, knweaye, Anonymous, and Robelyn (welcome back!!!) for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Chapter Nine
“Seonsaengniiiiim!”
Iseul-and the Bangs' maid who had accompanied her into the house-started at the anguished wail and rushed over to Jung-hwa, who sat slumped behind the low table upon which they conducted her lessons. “What is it, agasshi?!” Iseul asked urgently. “What's wrong?!”
“You're going to marry Master Gu Yong-ha!” the girl accused, the very picture of despair.
She sighed, partly from relief that Jung-hwa was unhurt and also from exasperation that they would now have to talk about that. “Ah... yes,” she replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Why didn't you tell me he was courting you?”
“It, ah, was a secret.” She busied herself with setting out her paints as an excuse to avoid her student's eyes. “We didn't know whether our families would approve.”
“So they've agreed to the match?” Jung-hwa asked, forgetting her distress and leaning forward eagerly. “And Master Gu asked you to marry him right away? How did he ask you? Was it so very, very romantic?”
“I suppose it was,” she said evasively, throwing in a small smile to try and make it convincing.
“So what did he do exactly?” pressed the Bangs' maid, who apparently hadn't left the room. Both teacher and student looked at her with some surprise, but the servant stayed put, waiting for an answer.
Iseul laughed self-consciously. “What did he do?” she repeated, stalling for time as she wracked her brain for a suitable story. “Well... I visited his shop at closing time one day, and he invited me to go for a stroll before going home. Then, while we were walking, he proposed.”
Jung-hwa wrinkled her nose. “That was it? You went for a walk and he asked you? He didn't even write you a poem, or sing you a song, or do anything like that?”
“No. I don't think he had even planned to ask at that particular moment.” She chuckled, pretending to be amused by the memory. “But I thought his proposal was perfect.”
“Was it a nice walk, at least?”
“I thought it was lovely.” Slowly, the scene took shape in her imagination. “Dusk had just fallen. We walked on a quiet street, so we were the only people there, and even though the weather has turned cold these days, I barely felt it.”
“Did he kiss you? Did he tell you that he loves you?”
Iseul blushed as the innocent questions sent off her little flight of fancy in a new, not-so-innocent direction. “I can't tell; that's too private.”
“He did!” the Bangs' maid declared. She and her mistress squealed with delight.
With an inward sigh, Iseul decided to leave them to their conclusions and tried to put an end to the discussion. “But he could have asked me at high noon in the middle of the busiest street in town and I still would have accepted,” she continued briskly. “When the right man asks you to marry him, the details don't really matter.” Ah, that was good, Kim Iseul, she congratulated herself when her audience sighed wistfully. You'll have to remember that one in case anyone else asks about the proposal.
“Master Gu is awfully handsome,” Jung-hwa admitted.
“And charming,” her servant chimed in dreamily.
This time, her young mistress sent her an impatient look. “Could you get our snacks, please, Dal-ja?”
Finally remembering her place, Dal-ja flushed and rose to her feet. “Yes, agasshi.”
Jung-hwa sidled closer to Iseul when the servant had quit the room. “But, seonsaengnim, I'm still really disappointed,” she confided. “I was hoping that you and my orabeoni would fall in love and get married. We could have been sisters.”
Iseul resisted the temptation to say that she, too, was disappointed, and for the very same reasons. The girl would have made a valuable ally in winning over Bang Jung-soo, but it was too late to continue pursuing him. Instead, she said with false brightness, “Well, even if we won't become sisters, we can still be friends, can't we?”
Not only did Iseul have to console Jung-hwa throughout their lesson, she also had to field Jung-soo's good-natured congratulations when the young man dropped by afterwards. (Mercifully, his sister did not say anything about pairing them together during the conversation.) Worst of all, she had to look appropriately thrilled when Dal-ja turned up to announce that Yong-ha had come to fetch her.
While Chin-hae, being a servant, always waited for her by the gate, Iseul's “betrothed” was ensconced in the Bangs' finest front room. “Surprise, darling!” he caroled, rising to his feet when she arrived with her student, her student's older brother, and their maid all in tow. His brilliant smile, along with his persimmon-colored overcoat, was a stark contrast to the somber décor that the Bang family favored.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted out stupidly.
“Why, I've come to take you home, of course! I've discussed it with your servant and we agree that I should take over this particular duty, at least as often as my schedule will allow.”
Fortunately, Jung-soo stepped in at this point, sparing her from having to think of a reply. “Hello, Master Gu,” he greeted the new arrival. “Welcome to our home.”
“Hello, Master Bang!” he replied cheerfully. “I didn't know you were taking painting lessons from my lovely fiancée.”
The other man chuckled. “Oh, I'm not, though I know that she is a most excellent teacher. My younger sister, Jung-hwa, is the one taking lessons.”
Seizing the opportunity to present herself, the girl bowed prettily. “Hello, Master Gu. I'm Bang Jung-hwa. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Naturally, Yong-ha was prepared with a charming smile and a smooth reply. “I assure you, agasshi, the pleasure is all mine.”
“We've just heard that you and Teacher Kim are betrothed,” Jung-soo continued as his sister beamed at the acknowledgement. “Please accept our congratulations.”
“Thank you, Master Bang.” He sauntered over to Iseul's side and took her hand. “I hope you'll convey my apologies to all the young men of Joseon for snapping her up before anyone else had the chance to get a good look at her. I had to take my chance when I saw it; otherwise, I would have had to drive you all off with a stick.”
“I'm sure that wouldn't have been necessary,” his “betrothed” demurred.
Jung-soo seemed to think so, too, for he laughed uproariously at the request. Iseul wasn't sure whether or not to be insulted by that. “I'll be sure to do that,” he answered, but he was still chuckling as he spoke.
“And Master Gu,” Jung-hwa broke in, sounding far more earnest than her brother, “I hope you'll take care of seonsaengnim. She's very dear to me.”
“She's even more precious to me, agasshi,” Yong-ha told her gravely. “So, I assure you, I'll take very good care of her.
“Now, my dear,” he continued, addressing Iseul this time, “we should be on our way. I promised your grandmother that I would bring you home before dark. Any later than that, and I might just be tempted to carry you off.”
“Did you have to be so... excessive?”
“Excessive?” Yong-ha repeated, glancing over his shoulder at his “betrothed,” who was riding pillion behind him.
“Yes.” She frowned. “You know, calling me all those pet names, talking about driving people away with sticks and carrying me off. Things like that. It was so embarrassing.
“And this,” she continued, trying to edge as far away from him as she could without sliding off the horse's rump. “We're making a spectacle of ourselves.”
He rolled his eyes as he turned back to face the road. For an artist, Kim Iseul didn't seem to have a romantic bone in her body. “The point of all of this,” he told her, speaking in a low voice that only she could hear, “is to convince everyone that we are truly a couple. We agreed to that, remember?” He reached behind him to put her arms around his waist. “Now, come closer and hold on to me before you fall off.”
Iseul allowed him to pull her closer, but she held herself stiffly, hands locked together at a level with his chest. “Is this how you ride a horse with another person?” Yong-ha asked her, trying to push them down so that he could breathe.
She released him abruptly. “I was trying to remain respectful and not get too familiar.”
“I appreciate the thought, but around the waist is still proper and would be more comfortable for us both.” He arranged her arms around him to illustrate. “I'll let you go lower than that only when I'm sure that I can trust you with my virtue.”
She let out a little chuh of disbelief. “You're joking, right?”
“On the contrary, I am completely serious. This is your lesson for the day.”
“What? We're going to continue those flirting lessons?”
“Of course!” Yong-ha declared, sounding aghast that she would even think of asking such a thing. “I should do everything in my power to improve your future chances of getting married for real, shouldn't I?”
He grinned when Iseul grumbled something unintelligible. Needling her was hardly the best way to deal with this pretend betrothal, but he supposed that he might as well get as much fun as he could out of the situation.
Yong-ha was still amused the next day, during the Jalgeum Quartet's semi-regular gathering at the Sungkyunkwan University archery range. He had come no closer to actually firing off an arrow over the years, but continued to turn up in order to get out of the shop and spend time with his friends.
“What's so funny?” Jae-shin asked, glancing at his oldest friend as he lined up a shot. “And don't tell me that it's my outfit. That joke was old ten years ago.”
Sun-joon chuckled. “When a betrothed man is smiling secretively like that, he could only be thinking about his bride-to-be,” he concluded.
“I didn't smile like that when I was betrothed.”
“No, but you more than made up for it after you got married,” Yong-ha told Jae-shin just as he let fly.
The jibe disrupted the other man's shot, and the arrow hit the outermost ring of the target with a small thunk. He couldn't help but take a small step back when Jae-shin glared at the errant arrow, and then at him.
Yoon-hee intervened by steering the conversation back to slightly less dangerous waters. “Have you set a date for the wedding yet, sa-hyung?” she asked Yong-ha, her eyes bright with anticipation.
“No, not yet,” he replied evasively. “We haven't even visited each other's families yet. But we will soon,” he added, to keep his friend from worrying and asking more questions.
As he spoke, he thought about the things that he and Iseul needed to do before paying the required visits. Although her first order from Yong-ha's shop had long been completed, he intended to put his seamstresses to work preparing a hanbok that she could wear to meet his family. (Naturally, the rush order would include appropriate cold-weather clothing; the coat she had worn yesterday was a disgrace.) They also needed to purchase garakji-rings to symbolize the harmony between husband and wife, and one of the gifts that a man could give the woman he wished to marry-and schedule a sketching session for Yong-ha's upcoming appointment with an important client.
Why do I get the feeling, he thought, that she would be most excited about that last one?
Suddenly, Jae-shin prodded his shoulder. “Ouch!” Yong-ha exclaimed, rubbing the injured body part. “What was that for?”
“You were smiling like a betrothed man again,” the other man pointed out. “Also, Yoon-hee just invited us all to dinner.”
Yoon-hee nodded. “I just remembered that we haven't properly celebrated your election as head of the Chamber of Commerce, sa-hyung,” she told him with a suspicious flutter of her eyelashes.
“And since you and our Horangi will be present, I might as well bring my fiancée to meet you all, is that it?” Yong-ha concluded, arching an eyebrow.
She grinned, unrepentant at being caught. “Exactly.”
“You know the ladies won't leave you alone until they meet her, sa-hyung,” Sun-joon pointed out sensibly. “So why not just get it over with?”
Faced with such logic, Yong-ha had no choice but to admit defeat. “Fine,” he sighed. “I'll ask her if she's free and let you know, all right?”
“I don't know if introducing me to your friends is a good idea,” Iseul demurred, speaking in a voice so low that Yong-ha had to lean in close to hear.
“It makes me nervous, too,” he murmured back, “but they might think something's wrong if I keep them from meeting you. Perhaps they'll be satisfied if you show up just this once.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “And if they ask to meet me again, I can always tell them that I'm too busy working.”
“They won't be able to argue with that.”
He smiled at her then and her heart gave a funny little skip, but Chae-mi's arrival gave her little time to dwell on that. “What are you two whispering about?” her friend wanted to know as she approached from the other side of the shop.
Iseul and Yong-ha sprang apart at the question. “Nothing,” they chorused.
“Yes, it sure looked like nothing,” Chae-mi said with a sly look.
“Leave them be, Han Chae-mi.” Master Geum, the jeweler, emerged from the back of his shop with a stack of notebooks. “Both Master Gu and Teacher Kim are very busy people, so we should allow them their little private moments.
“Now,” he continued, addressing the “couple” this time, “since you don't yet have a design in mind, I brought out sketches of the garakji that I've done.”
“Wonderful,” Yong-ha said. “Thank you, Master Geum. They should help inspire us. Shall we look at them, darling?”
Iseul let out a tiny squeak when he began to steer her towards the counter where the notebooks lay. She shot him a repressive look, warning him not to get too familiar, but he promptly countered with one of his own, a silent reminder that they needed to convince everyone that they were truly in love.
“Have a care, if you please,” the jeweler chuckled. “Any more smoldering looks between the two of you and my shop might just go up in flames.”
“Forgive me, sir,” Yong-ha said as a shocked giggle burst out of Chae-mi. “I forget myself sometimes.”
“You forget yourself a little more often than that,” Iseul reminded him.
“Can you blame me, my love?” he replied with a grin.
She narrowed her eyes at him, and then turned away and back to Master Geum. “Shall we begin?”
“Certainly, Teacher Kim.” He gave her a diffident look and opened the first notebook. “I hope you'll excuse my poor drawing technique.”
She laughed politely. “Oh, I'm sure your drawing is much better than you are making it sound, sir.”
The drawings did turn out to be well-rendered, and everyone was full of genuine praise for them. “This one is gorgeous!” Chae-mi exclaimed, pointing to a pomegranate design. “You should get this for your rings. The pomegranates have lots of seeds, so you'll have many sons!”
Iseul blushed at the implication, but tried to keep the discussion light. “You sound like you're choosing the design for your rings,” she teased.
“Pooh! I know they're not, but I knew from the very start that you and Master Gu had fallen in love, so I have a vested interest in making sure every detail of this betrothal is perfect.” Chae-mi grabbed her arm and gave it a little shake of excitement. “I can't believe I'm helping you choose your garakji! This makes your betrothal feel so real!
“And you're going to pay your visits soon!” she rambled on. “But should you really visit Master Gu's family first? Maybe you should visit Halmeonim first. After all, she is older, and I think it would be much easier since she already knows Master Gu. Are you nervous?”
“There's no need for my fiancée to be nervous,” Iseul's “betrothed” broke in before she could reply. “I am sure that my family will love her just as much as I do.”
“In that case, they'll adore me,” she managed to banter back.
“You'll have them worshipping at your feet,” Yong-ha agreed with an approving smile that had her feeling flustered all over again.
Fortunately, she could always pretend to be more interested in Master Geum's designs. “This one's quite nice,” Iseul said, pointing at one.
“I suppose, but....” Chae-mi looked dubiously at the sketch of a plain band etched with a pair of fish. “Isn't it a bit too simple?”
“It would probably cost less.”
“That's true,” Yong-ha told her, “but may I remind you, my thrifty beloved, that you're not betrothed to just anybody? Gu Yong-ha can certainly afford something better.”
“You might even say that Master Gu is obliged to buy only the best for his wife,” Master Geum chimed in. “Anything less would be an insult to his family.”
“And an insult to Master Geum's skills,” the younger man added. The jeweler was clearly steering them towards choosing a more elaborate and perhaps more profitable design, but Yong-ha also believed that Iseul did not need to be so frugal. “Come now, darling, what is the point of ordering our garakji from the best jeweler in Joseon if they don't look special?”
Even Chae-mi entered the fray. “Besides, Iseul-ah, you're an artist and Master Gu is well-known for his excellent taste,” she pointed out. “Shouldn't your garakji be beautiful?”
Yong-ha could tell that his “betrothed' was itching to protest some more, but she couldn't very well announce exactly why they didn't need to buy fancy rings. “I knew you would see reason!” he said triumphantly when Iseul was forced to admit defeat. “Now, what do you think of this one? Our rings should definitely have a fertility symbol or two, don't you agree?”
In the end, they did not choose any of Master Geum's designs, but devised one of their own that featured a stylized grapevine, for a long and fruitful marriage. The design would be worked on two bands of amber, a material that the affianced couple agreed would be beautiful and unique. Garakji were made for a wife to wear, one on each hand, but Yong-ha declared that prior to the wedding, he would wear one ring while Iseul wore the other. She would wear them both after they were married.
The idea sent Chae-mi into raptures. “You might have just started a new fashion,” Iseul murmured to him as she raved about the beauty of the gesture to the jeweler, who was only half-listening as he wrote down the details of their order.
“It's what I do, darling,” he told her with a superior air.
“I'm still worried about the cost, though,” she said, frowning. “What will we do with them after... you know?”
He sighed. The garakji were not going to be cheap, but he also did not see the need to lose sleep over them. “We'll worry about that when the time comes, all right?”
Just then, Yong-ha spotted Iseul's friend silently poring over the notebooks, an odd look on her face. “Is anything wrong, Miss Han?” he asked her.
Chae-mi looked up, her cheeks turning pink. “No, nothing's wrong,” she answered with a wistful smile. “I was just daydreaming about my turn to buy garakji, that's all.”