Hello! Sorry for the short chapter- new one is coming soon! Thanks for your reviews!
"She cannot keep on like this. Her first man will be here sooner than later, and when he comes she must be ready." Hea said determinedly. The entire group of girls sat together in a circle, crammed into the tiny room that Areum and Hea shared. They had been passing messages to each other secretly all throughout the day, planning to discuss the fallen major when Seo Hwa was not around to hear. It was a quarter to two in the morning, and their faces were somber against the candlelight.
"You are right," Nari chimed in, "she will not survive long if we don't do something."
"Just give her some space… She is still adjusting-" Areum tried weakly, hoping to buy her friend just a little time before the inevitable would come crashing down on her.
"Areum, why do you speak nonsense? We all know that her time for grieving ran out long ago. The only reason she has not been thrown through the door is because no man would want to fuck a weeping widow. What's gotten into you lately, anyhow? You seem more worried about her than you should be." Gayoon, one of the older members said with concern written plainly on her face.
Areum bit her lip nervously, looking around at the eager faces staring back at her. It was true; everyone noticed her change in attitude towards Margaret. She spent more time with the woman than anyone else. Sighing in defeat, she knew she had to tell her friends the truth. "I… I do not think Margaret San understands what being a gisaeng means."
Hye-ja, a girl just a few years older than Nari, scoffed. "What are you saying?"
Areum put her head in her hands, trying to rid herself of the growing headache she felt. "The other night, she was… Delusional. She kept talking about escaping."
A chorus of gasps rang throughout the room, and Hea's hand flew to her mouth. "What?! Areum, surely you quelled this nonsense of hers before it got a chance to grow!"
"I tried!" Areum protested, "I told her that it was impossible, but she didn't seem to acknowledge it. She has been very quiet and somber since… I fear that she may break soon."
Hea folded her arms petulantly and snorted. "At least then she'd be easier to deal with." She murmured.
Areum's eyes narrowed in fury. She had just about had enough with her friend's self-entitled attitude lately, and her animosity towards Margaret only fueled her rage. However, before she could get a word in, Chin-Sun cut her off.
"It doesn't matter that she is an American- she is one of us now, and we must help her as we helped each other. Now, what are we going to do to cheer her up? She cannot afford to despair, if she does she'll end up like Xiu." The little girl declared, and everyone shivered at the memory of the gisaeng from the past.
Xiu, a Chinese girl, had come to the gisaeng house at the start of the war. No one knew how she got to Gwan Dae, but she was the talk of the town. Strikingly beautiful, every girl wanted to look like Xiu and every man wanted to have her. But she did not last. Areum knew from the start, from the moment she laid eyes on the young blossom of a woman, that she was just too delicate and too precious to survive such a brutal fate. She cared too deeply, loved too much, and cried too genuinely. It took only two weeks for her to fall into a deep depression at the horrors that were going on all around her. The others had tried to pull her out of it, tried to save her, but there was nothing they could do. She was too far gone in sorrow and despair, and within the month she simply faded away into nothing, until one morning her body, all skin and bones, refused to wake. Seo Hwa had thrown her corpse into the ditch outside the house borders, and no one ever saw her again.
Areum mourned her death for a long time after that, more than she let anyone know. She'd be damned if she let the same thing happen to Margaret.
"You are right… But what can we do?" Areum asked, nervously, wringing her hands.
The group was silent for a moment, all deep in thought, before Nari, the marvelously clever one, spoke up. "I know!" She exclaimed, eyes bright, "We can make her enjoy it."
They all exchanged a look of horror before Hea stared at the girl. "What? That's impossible! No one can enjoy rape unless you are the man."
Nari tsked knowingly, wagging a finger at Hea. "Ah, but it won't be defilement. We will teach her to protect her mind by pleasuring her body. If she takes charge of every encounter she has with a man, if she does more than simply cooperating, she will forget that she is here by force and it will seem like she's just out with a date. And besides, which one of us can say we've never had a pleasurable experience with a man?" She murmured with a slight smile.
The group of girls seemed to blush simultaneously, each recalling their own rare moments of happiness when they happened to get that perfect soldier who treated them just right. Areum pursed her lips in worry, knowing that this could backfire in so many ways. "Are you sure? She is smart, she will know what we're doing."
"We are saving her," Hea hissed at her best friend, "that is more than anyone did for us. Now all of you, get back to your rooms before we are seen."
Areum sighed inwardly as the group dispersed, each of the girls tip-toeing back to their own rooms. Hea stood up to leave, reaching for her oil lamp, when Areum grabbed the hem of her gown insistently.
"Do not allow your pride to hinder you." She whispered in the dim light of the room. Though she could not see Hea's face, she knew it was screwed in confusion and anger. Her thoughts were confirmed when her friend yanked her gown from Areum's hand, sweeping out of the room in silence.
Areum closed her eyes in sadness, looking towards Margaret who slept in the corner, before blowing out the candle and allowing darkness to swallow the room.