Part 10

The initiation, Part 2

The seniors of Sungkyunkwan begin checking the fruits of the freshmen’s missions and when they finally reach Yoon-hee, Yong-ha is sure of her failure. To his and everyone’s surprise, however, she offers up Cho-sun’s undergarment. Failing to hide his shock, Yong-ha asks if this really belongs to Cho-sun—the others suspicious that it belongs to another gisaeng—but when he unfolds and counts the flowers on the undergarment, he is assured that it truly is Cho-sun’s undergarment.

The class president grabs it, and begins to read Cho-sun’s poem: “Who would say that a short night is lesser than a long night? Such an enrapturing short night…I would not trade for any longer night.”

"Is it true? Did you see Cho-sun? And did she give this to you directly?” When she answers yes, he clenches his fist silently in anger. Yong-ha on the other hand is thoroughly amused and lets out an adorable chuckle.

Yong-ha declares that the greatest prize is undisputedly Yoon-hee, who made possible the impossible. Yoon-hee receives her uniform, officially(or…unofficially) admitted to the university.

Next is Sunjoon. He announces that he was unable to fulfill his mission, saying that he did not even go to the Minister's house in Buk-chon. Yoonhee quietly protests that she saw him coming from Buk-chon but Sunjoon clears his throat to keep her quiet.

After preparations are complete, the seniors give the OK for the punishment to begin(after a smug little speech) and several scholars come out to push him in.

Yoonhee decides that she wants to use her one wish(the grand prize) on saving Sun-joon. Despite the class president's threats that if she uses this wish, he has the power to expel her, she insists that she wants to use it on Sun-joon.

Everyone is a bit upset that they didn't get to see the spectacle they were expecting to see.

When they return to campus, Sun-joon asks Yoon-hee if she isn't sorry she gave up her wish for him

"I'll ask for you to return the favor. I'll get a wish from you. I'm quite greedy, and my wish will be a big one." Sunjoon smiles. Both of them are standing in front of the door of their room.

"I'll be waiting. In any case, you surprised me. I never expected that side of you."

 

"What do you mean?"

"We're both men. You know what I'm talking about." (he's referring to her "night" with Chosun, which everyone assumes was a sexual affair, but Yoonhee doesn't understand what he's trying to say). Yoonhee smiles, although she has no idea what he means by that. She's nervous at the thought of obtaining a wish from Sunjoon. She must wait until the proper moment so she can use it wisely.

"But, aren't you curious about what your riddle was?" Yoonhee asks.

"Well, it's over already." He's really not interested, but she tells him anyway to see his reaction.

"The Lotus refers to a beautiful woman."

"Ah..."

Sunjoon nods his head as if he were really trying to figure it out, but Yoonhee is shaken as she realizes that he knew it all along. She doesn't say another word, but she had hoped that Sunjoon had not met the beautiful woman. Since they are nearing Dongjae, a group of Norons pass by and greet Sunjoon, completely ignoring Yoonhee.

Yoonhee finds herself shivering at the door of her dorm room. Her real travails tonight wasn't the initiation, but rather, having to spend the night with the Crazy Horse. She feels like she's inside a nightmare, but she has to go in, since the other students are looking at her puzzled as to why she doesn't go inside.

Geol-roh is lying on the floor, leaning his elbow on a desk. His hand covers his face, so he doesn't immediately notice that one of his roommates has arrived. Yoonhee cough to get his attention, but he doesn't move. She gets upset, not knowing what to do. Should I sit down? Should I remain standing? She finds courage enought to speak up.

"Um, excuse me, scholar Geol-roh" but suddenly panics. She doesn't know if it's correct to call him by his nickname. Is it permitted to call your seniors by their nicknames? In any event, Geol-roh realizes that she is there and turns his head, and yells:  "What?"

Geol-roh sees her and realizes who she is. "What are you doing here in my room? Come here. I want to enjoy this great prize."

Yoonhee is surprised. "I appreciate what you did that day, but I'm still a man!  I don't feel comfortable with you saying those types of things."

Geol-roh bends over in laughter until his side begins to hurt. He stays that way for a moment until the pain subsides before continuing:

 

"It's possible that you are a man, but I don't discriminate. Don't be offended. Since there are no women here, I’d just as soon take you. If you don't want me to do anything to you, then leave my room."

"How can a student like you enter Sungkyunkwan?" she yells with all her might. "This is my room too!"

"What?" Geol-roh looks around the room, and sees that there are in fact other things there besides his own. "Damn it, this is really annoying!."

He motions for her to sit down. Yoonhee is still angry, but she sits down, since that's one way to prove that it's also her room.

"Moon Jaeshin"

"What? Moon Jaeshin?"

"That's my name. What's yours?"

"My name is Kim Yoonshik, and..." before she can say another word, he interrupts her.

"That's enough. Even if you say nothing else, I'll remember it. I'll call you by your name. By your face, it looks like I'm older than you, right?"

"I'm 19 years old."

"I'm 23, so I'm your senior."

"Well, nothing can be done. You are so small that if you just stay in one corner you won't bother me."

Yoonhee is about to tell him that they have another roommate, when Sunjoo enters.

"How can a Noron dare to enter this room?"

Yoonhee is surprised that Jaeshin can tell by simply looking that Sunjoon is a Noron, but it could be that he remembers Sunjoon from that summer night when he fought the seonjupkuns who had attacked her.

"Ah, you're the one who helped us that evening. I'm glad to meet you again. My name is Lee Sunjoon." But Sunjoon's calm demeanor only enfuriates Jaeshin.

"Get out! NOW!"

His yelling could be heard in all the dorm rooms, and the students know why: Yongha has entered the room.

"Tsk, tsk. Look at you. It's been a long time.

Jaeshin's expression changes when he sees Yongha enter, but he doesn't answer. He's too angry to respond. Yongha sits down, and signals Sunjoon and Yoonhee to do the same.

"Geol-roh is not a bad person, as you already know. His voice is strong, so don't take him seriously."  Jaeshin stays silent while looking at Sunjoon.

"It's sufficating to have so many men in this room. I'll go crazy. I don't want to yell anymore so all of you, except Shik, get out."

"Shik?"

Yongha looks at Yoonhee, surprised. Is Jaeshin being kind to this student? Is it possible I've been correct about the student, and Jaeshin has noticed that she's a woman? Jaeshin ignores Yongha's suspicious stare, and he looks at Sunjoon.

"I'm Lee Sunjoon and I'll remain in this room with you from now on."

Jaeshin realizes that yelling isn't getting him anywhere. If Sunjoon isn't affected by his yells, Jaeshin will just look like a fool by continuing to yell. Jaeshin's a fighter, but not an idiot, and he knows when to keep his mouth shut.

Angry, he begins to undress. Yoonhee is surprised and moves closer to Sunjoon. Sunjoon looks at her, while he removes his gat, inquiring with his gaze if she has anything to tell her. Yoonhee responds with her look "No, it's nothing."  When Jaeshin is naked from the waist up, he looks and sees that the two students are very close together.

"Hey, it looks like you may be in that type of relationship, but don't do it in my room. The walls are thin, so even the slightest moan can be heard. If you can't keep it in your pants, I can tell you of a good place to do it."

Sunjoon holds back his anger and wills himself to keep his mouth shut. He's not angry for himself, but because Yoonshik is being insulted. She, on the other hand, is so surprised to see a man's naked torso that she doesn't even notice the insult. Her face reddens, and she tries to hide behind Sunjoon. To her surprise, Jaeshin lies face down and grabs her.

"Hey, Shik, come look at my butt."

"What, look at what? Why do you keep insulting me?" Yoonhee said in despair, and Jaeshin laughed.

"What do you think I'm asking you to do?"

At that moment, Yongha sees his injury. "I can't believe you are joking around, with this type of injury! Why didn't you say anything sooner? You are a stupid, ignorant..."

Jaeshin's left buttcheek is covered in blood. He was asking her to look at the injury, but she can't look at a man's rear end. She's frozen in place, unable to move, and Sunjoon pushes her aside. "I'll go take a look." he says.

"My wound would rot if a Noron looks at it!"

"Sunjoon doesn't let himself get upset. Jaeshin gets up when Junsoon comes near, but the pain makes him lie back down. Yonha tells Sunjoon that he'll look at it. He calls a soobook to bring something to clean the wound.

"Is scholar Geol-roh injured again?"

When Yoonhee was going to ask if he usually arrives with such injuries, the soobook arrives with the needed items.

Yoonhee sits as far away from Jaeshin's naked rear end as she can. Although she pretends to be a man, she still can't look at a man's naked body. All of this, of course, doesn't escape Yongha's attention.

"You've bloodied your pants as much as women do every month!" he joked, while looking a Yoonhee. Her face turns red. She feels wary and overwhelmed by Yongha's presence. Yongha, while curing Jaeshin's wound, turns him around (facing towards Yoonhee). Yoonhee, utterly surprised, closes her eyes and turns towards the wall. Yongha laughs.

"Why are you so embarrassed to see the naked body of another man?"

"I...ah...am not embarrassed. It's just that I faint easily and can't stand to look at blood."

She's glad she was able to find a good excuse. Yongha is now confused over Yonghee ("is he a man or isn't he?"). Jaeshin yells to hurry up already.

After curing the wound, Yongha jokes about Jaeshin's firm butt, which does not humor Jaeshin at all, and he grabs Yongha by the collar. "Before you say anything else, I'm going to kill you. How dare you say such a thing?"

"Yeorim sahyun and Geol-roh sahyun must be very good friends" says Sunjoon. Jaeshin just laughs and fall back, face down.

"He corrupts the other students. Do you know what Yeorim means?" asks Jaeshin.

"What? What does it mean?" asks Yoonhee, still facing the wall.

"Yeo, which means woman, and Rim, which means bush. "Woman's bush."  I suppose that it expresses my desire to spend the rest of my life next to him. My nickname of Geol-roh was also given to me by this bastard here."

Yeonhee laughs nervously. This man can't be in his right mind. No matter what, he's still a nobleman. How can they live with those nicknames? Geol-roh is a surprise to her, but not half as much as Yeorim. Sunjoon is equally surprised, but more so over their nicknames than their persons. He asks, "How can a nobleman be covered with such wounds? This isn't the body of a scholar. What do you do when you leave here?"

"Shut up!"

Jaeshin screams coldly. In order to break the tension, Yongha laughs.

"In any case, it's fascinating. How is it possible that this room is occupied by three single guys? There aren't a great number of unmarried scholars here. But no family will accept Geol-roh."

Sunjoon smiles and asks: "Then, are you married?"

"I was married so long ago that I don't even remember, but I think I am. When I grew up my wife was already there, ha ha ha."

"You must have a very good relationship."

"I grew up thinking she was my noona (older sister). It's been three years since the last time I saw her.

"Sahyng Yeorim seems like such a different person here."

"I agree, but what can I do? If I leave here, my family won't send me money. If I don't have money, I can't go to the gisaengs' house. And if I don't go there, I'll die. So, it's a good arrangement, even if they make me study morning through night."

"But it must have been very impressive when you got here."

"Actually, I'm not interested in taking the exams, but if I don't pass them, there will be no more money or concubines. I can't do anything about it."

Yongha continues talking about women while Jaeshin still lies facedown, refusing to put on any more clothes than what he's wearing right now, a very short pair of underpants. Yongha tries to scare Yoonhee and Sunjoon with a story about a ghost. Finally, Yongh leaves them alone so that they can sleep.

Yoonhee is still hoping Soondol will arrive with the mats and blankets. If he doesn't bring them soon, where will she sleep? Sunjoon realizes this. "It looks like he won't come today. It may take him a while to get them ready. You can share mine in the meantime.

"What? Share?"

"We can share the mat. It may be a bit small but if we stay close togetherk we'll both fit. The only problem will be the pillow."

The problem won't be the pillow, thinks Yoonhee. It will be having to sleep so close to you. A single woman sharing a room with two men, and on top of that sharing a mat. If anyone found out, she could be expelled and lose her designation of virgin, and be sold as a slave. She is filled with mental anguish. I was so naive to think I would come here only to study and pass the exams. But, what all good will all that do me now? She closes her eyes, trying to calm herself, by repeating: "I am a man, I am a man, I am a man."

She calms down as soon as she opens her eyes and sees Sunjoon remove his top. She closes her eyes again, but it's no use. The image is already burned into her brain, and she sees Sunjoon removing his top over and over again in her mind, even with her eyes closed. Even though she saw more of Jaeshin's body, she's even more nervous seeing Sunjoon in his underclothes.

Jaeshin complains when he lays down his mat. Damn it, how can three men share such a small room? The Norons should be with the Norons!

All dorm rooms are already filled. You should just give up.

Hey! Are you going to sleep with your dopo? Take it off!

Yoonhee is scared, so she starts to take off her clothes too. She looks at Sunjoon, whose body can be seen through the light on the fabric. What if her body also shows through her underclothes? But she can't sleep with her dopo. Little by little she removes the ribbon on the top part, and she remembers that luckily, she has another layer of clothes between her outer garments and the bands across her breast, so her body won't be seen.

Jaeshin, looking at her, spits. "Are you going to change before the sun comes up? Since you look like a girl, are you going to act like one too?"

Yoonhee removes her outer clothes, and quickly slides between Sunjoon and the door.

"Where do you think you're sleeping? Come here next to me!" yells Jaeshin.

"N...no, I'm the youngest, so I should sleep next to the door" she says, inching closer to the door.

"Lie down over here! Do you expect me to sleep next to a Noron?"

"Then, do you expect me to sleep with a man on either side of me?" She looks at Sunjoon for assistance.

"I too think it's best. You health isn't good and the draft from the door may not be good for you. The center will be warmer."  She sighs. She was an idiot to expect anything else.

"It's not cold. I...it's warm..."

"Come here before I get violent."

Because of Jaeshin's threat, Yoonhee moves to the center. She wonders if she'd be better off with Yongha than with this naked man, but then she corrects herself. Yongha could be even worse. The room is so small that there's no room after laying down the mats. There'd be no place to lay down an additional mat even if Soondol would bring it.

Fortunately, due to Jaeshin's injury, he lies on his side with his back to her. Although it's probably because he doesn't want to face Sunjoo, who's lying on his back. Yoonhee does the same thing, and puts the blanket over her face. Jaeshin turns off the light, and the room is dark.

Yoonhee feels suffocated by the silence, since she can hear both of them breathing. Besides, she feels as if her arm, which is touching Sunjoon, is paralyzed. Finally, she decides not to fall asleep. She'll have to do it during the day for the duration of her stay at Suhgkyunkwan. Jaeshin, from the other side, speaks up: "Why did you come to this room, since you are a Noron?

"Dongjae and Seojae are divided into Saengwons and Jinsas. I am both, so I can sleep in either section.

"That's even more absurd. Jinsas are better known than the Saengwons, so you should have gone to the Seojae where the Jinsas are."

Yoonhee's eyes are closed, but she nods her head. Sunjoon doesn't answer, and Jaeshin, getting no response, says: "I don't like Norons. You know that."

"Geol-Roh sahyung gives greater importance to political parties than to people" says Sunjoon. In reply, Jaeshin turns over and after kicking him in the back, he leans over to get to him. Yoonhee is surprised to find herself trapped between the two of them.

How can I be your sahyung? Don't call me that again. I'm a Soron and not your sahyung. I don't discuss political parties with the dirty mouth of any Noron. Don't you know it's the Norons who promote and manipulate the divisions between the political factions?

Jaeshin yells louder and louder. Yoonhee doesn't want to get involved so she keeps her eyes closed. But that doesn't last long, since Jaeshin grabs Sunjoon by the neck. She's stuck between their two bodies, with her face against Jaeshin's chest. Trying to distance herself, she manages to turn towards Sunjoon. But this was a mistake. Since Jaeshin is pulling Sunjoon towards him, her body is stuck under Sunjoon. Her face turns red and she feels her blood rushing. Jaeshin pulls once again. The men's bodies move together with her in the middle, her face is buried in Sunjoon's chest, and...she feels Jaeshin's "thing" pressing against her back.

In the middle of all this, Yoonhee feels something between her lips. It's small but firm. What is it? Yoonhee turns pale when she sees what it is. She has just caressed one of Sunjoon's nipples with her lips.

"Aaaaaahhh!" screams Yoonhee lifting her fist, which collides with Jaeshin's chin.

"Did you just punch me with your fist?"

She's trapped and there's no way to escape. Sunjoon laughs and although Jaeshin grabbed Sunjoon easily, it doesn't look like he will grab her. He starts yelling in anger, and the other students heard, and were surprised to hear that Yoonshik dared to hit Jaeshin. Yongha also heard it, and although he was surprised at first, he begins to laugh out loud. "Ha ha ha. Kim Yoon Shik is definitely a big shot. He's a Daemul...a Daemul. Ha ha ha."

"A Daemul?" asks his roommate.

"Yes, a Daemul. The prize that even the great Chosun couldn't refuse. Isn't it perfect?"

And Yoonhee's nickname from that moment on was Daemul. And all the students could do was imagine what really happened that night at the Joong-ee-bang.