"They are back, they are back." Screamed Yoo Seong loudly as she run through the front door, her loud feet banging on the floorboards and echoing in the hallway getting louder and louder. Dae Jung pressed his palms to his ears. And then covered himself with a blanket. Patter of the small feet stopped a few steps away from him and suddenly sound and light flooded his senses.
"They are back!" Yelled Yoo Seong right above his head, the blanket falling on his shoulders.
"Oh, are they?" Asked Dae Jung, lifting his eyes from the book he was reading before she created all the commotion and forced him to hide in the darkness.
"Jun-ni, the boys are home. They are safe."
"I am glad," said Dae Jung, but his tone did not suggest so.
Slowly separating each syllable to make it easier for him to absorb the words, she repeated, "The boys are home."
He waved his hand lazily. "I know. I know."
"Why aren't you excited?"
"Look. I'm glad they are back and I'm happy they are safe so that uncle Dae Man and Auntie Go Jin Ah would not have to worry. But I really don't want to deal with the brothers any more. If you want to talk about them, talk to someone else."
"Jun-ni", she whined.
"What Yoo Seong?" His unusually cold eyes prickled her with grey icicles.
When she so how determined he was, the girl gave up. There was a point when his persistence could outdo even her stubbornness. "Fine," she said, turning on her heels. "I will go tell Mom."
"I'm sure Mom already knows."
"So what will I do now?" Her faced dropped. Yoo Seong sat next to him and pulled the rest of the blanket on her back.
"What were you doing before?"
"Playing."
"Go play."
"But you know they are upset with me; I thought that when they come back, things will return back to normal. I will say I'm sorry I saw their," she closed her mouth with both hands before she spilled her secret. Dae Jung did not seem to notice. "I saw them and we had a fight." Yoo Seong sighed and pouted and then sighed and pouted some more. But since her brother was not being helpful, she left.
She found Eun Soo in the courtyard, in the midst of the crowd, comprised of other women and children, who surrounded the newly arrived brothers. "Oma, Oma," she pulled her skirt and hid behind her body, when Eun Soo turned.
"What baby? Come and say hello."
"No please, I need to talk to you. Hide me, hide, me." The woman only smiled and turned to make sure that the wide spread of her skirt was covering Yoo Seong. The girl walked backwards, her face covered by the fabric, luckily it was just a few steps to the front door.
"Mom, what do I do?"
"Nothing."
"You sound like Dae Jung. You know what happened. I have to check how they are doing, but I can't show my face."
"Give them time, baby."
"How long?"
"I don't' know."
"What if they don't want to be friends with me?"
"There are other children you are friends with."
"I think I screwed this up, did not I?"
Eun Soo softly lifted her daughter's chin. She attnetively looked into her eyes, seeing a reflection of herself in the black irises. Choi Young's beautiful almond eyes were staring at her from the child's face, innocent and full of wonder, filled with trust and love.
"There are other boys in the world that you can play with Seong-ah. And it's not really your fault that you are so pretty. You can blame your father. Maybe a little bit, just for his eyes. But your personality is definitely mine."
"What are you taking about, Mom?" Yoo Seong furrowed in confusion. Sometimes her mother was saying the silliest things.
. . .
Yoo Seong thought hard and long, for a whole hour, about what her mother said, focusing on the part she understood about playing with other boys. The decision came so naturally she squealed from excitement, there was one boy in the world that would not mind playing with her. She decided to take the suggestion one step further, taking all the signs of her being a girl, which caused the problem in a first place, out of the equation altogether. This quick decision led to some unintended long-term consequences, launching Yoo Seong's life into a new era and taking her family along for a ride.
. . .
After the falling out with the brothers, Yoo Seong's demeanor had changed. She became attached to her brother at the hip. She demanded for her hair to be pulled up in a high knot like her brother's and her clothes to be a replica of his.
"I don't want to be a girl anymore." She stated firmly, refusing to discuss her newly found goal in life.
At dawn, she arrived to all the trainings with her father along with her brother, demanding that he treated her like a boy. Choi Young was baffled at first. He was pleased that his daughter demonstrated such interest in martial arts and swordsmanship, but he also knew it was not a future for a girl.
Eun Soo did not seem to worry as much as him. "It's just a phase," she explained. "Around this age, girls don't want to be princesses. They forgo dresses and pretty ribbons and they turn into little tomboys. Don't you worry, you will wish this phase would last longer once she returns to dresses and hairdos."
Choi Young reluctantly listened. He knew that his wife usually was right about these kinds of things, and after a while he has gotten used to having both of his kids present at the morning training. Yoo Seong sparkled in her abilities, while Dae Jung as usual was stellar with technique and what he lacked in talent, compensated with hard work.
The afternoon classes were not as successful, Yoo Seong with a sour face fingered the books and scrolls, yawning and rubbing her eyes, while her brother studied his daily lesson. Choi Young felt bad for her and after a week of seeing her stoically survive the torture decided that she was better suited for hands-on education, if Eun Soo was up to it. He officially assigned his daughter to study at the clinic and was happy that she did not protest at all, since she already had affinity for helping the sick and injured.
With the new schedule, the twins only came out to play in the evening and Yoo Seong was happy that she did not have to face the brothers, or rather avoid facing them.
Soon Hwon and Soon Uk apparently made a change of their own. They were often seen playing by themselves or following their father around the compound and training grounds. They did not seek out Choi children and when Yoo Seong once bumped into them by accident, the boys politely greeted her and went on their way, as if they were never the best of friends.
"I am sorry." She ran after them, and only received indifferent and polite, "Don't worry, no apology necessary" in response.
That evening she climbed into Eun Soo's bed and hugging her mother, cried. She secretly hoped that the boys would yell at her and get mad, even try to pick a fight, but indifference hurt her more than anything. Hot tears kept coming, as her heart ached, met with such unexpected coldness and disinterest.
When tired Choi Young returned home late, he had little appreciation for his daughter's plight, finding her body taking up his place in bed. Eun Soo slipped from under the covers and walked out with the General to the balcony giving him a hug to stop all the grumbling. After her body soothes his irritability, Choi Young sighed, "Tell me quickly, I had a long day and require rest."
After he listened, he asked eyes softening, "What can I do?".
"Nothing you or I can do. She will just have learn to let it go."
Choi Young quietly brought out a mattress and a blanket, arranging it on the floor of the terrace. Laying on the makeshift bed, they watched the stars before falling asleep under the open skies.
. . .
Time is the best doctor - Yoo Seong learned from her mother. She trained in the morning, worked at the clinic during the day and played with Dae Jung in the evening. As the days and weeks passed, she was no longer scared to meet eyes of Soon Hwon and Soon Uk. Her laughter was heard in the large courtyard as she ran playing tag with the girls and boys of other Woodalchi families. Luckily, there were many other kids she could play with and new friendships developed leaving the sadness of her first unsuccessful relationship a distant memory.