Part 22

Sunjoon and Yoonhee at the Waterfall

[Before this: The lower level students, who blame Yoonhee for keeping  Sunjoon at Dongjae instead of Seojae, spread the rumor  that Yoonhee and Jaeshin have been fornicating at  Bibokcheon late at night. Yoonhee and Jaeshin confront the  lower level students, and all the students gather as the  lower level students accuse them of being "disgusting" and  tell Sunjoon to leave his roommates immediately.]

Jaeshin is super angry, and Yoonhee is extremely upset to  have dirtied her brother's name. Sunjoon, similarly angry  (but he tries not to show it), ask how they know that  Jaeshin and Yoonhee were doing those things, to which they  answer that they were at Bibokcheon late at night. Sunjoon is like, so you didn't actually see them do anything? You just deduced that they were because they were together?  And the lower level students respond, what else could they  have been doing together at Bibokcheon that late? Sunjoon  fires back, saying, "if you think they were doing it  because they were together at Bibokcheon that late, isn't it fair to claim that since you all were there together, too, that you were doing the same?"

The lower level students are all startled, but claim that  they were there just to scare Yoonhee. Jaeshin tells them  that he went looking for Yoonhee as well to scare her for  fun, because it was too awkward to be alone in the room with Sunjoon after their fistfight, which people accept as  reasonable. Yoonhee wonders why Jaeshin is lying, because  she knows he was there to rest because of his wound. Then  another student pipes in, saying that he saw Yoonhee on top of another man underneath the tree at Daesungjeon.  Everyone is like, yeah, what's that about?

Sunjoon says that it was him, to which the lower level  students (who are all very enamored of Sunjoon) exclaim that that's a lie; he must just be covering for Jaeshin!  Jaeshin gets angry because of the discrimination.  Sunjoon tells him that he was just helping her get off the  tree, and the witness is quick to accept it, since Yoonhee was not on top of him for very long. Yoonhee is quiet,  because even though there really isn't anything between  her and Jaeshin, she does not have the conscience to defend herself regarding Sunjoon. All the lower level students have no more to say, and they pale as Jaeshin  growls that he's going to have to take care of them for what they've done.

As Sunjoon and Yoonhee leave the confrontation, Sunjoon is  quiet because he's sure that Jaeshin was not at Bibokcheon that late just to scare Yoonhee; there must be something between them that he doesn't know, and it bothers him.  Yoonhee is curious as to why Jaeshin is lying.

Additionally, on their day off, Yoonhee and Yongha go to  Morakgahn (the gisaeng house). Yoonhee meets Chosun, and Chosun, just to tease Yoonhee, tells yoonhee that her relationship with Sunjoon  makes it seem almost like Yoonhee is gay. Yoonhee is  caught off guard, and she doesn't defend herself, to which  Chosun is extremely surprised. She also gets kind of angry  and when Yoonhee tries to leave, saying that she isn't fit  for Chosun anyway, Chosun goes kind of insane and tells  Yoonhee that she will cut off Yoonhee's ...thing... before  any woman or man can get to it, and grabs a knife.  Thankfully Yongha comes to the rescue and both of them flee the place, back to Yoonhee's room in Dongjae.]

Yoonhee, Sunjoon, Jaeshin, Yongha, and other boys from  Dongjae go to play at the water and look at  chrysanthemums. They all settle down at the bottom of a  medium-sized waterfall. The scene is described as very  picturesque, with big trees extending their branches over  the water, providing them with shade. Some of them start  putting their feet in the water, and others set up the  food and alcohol.

Jaeshin goes to lay down on a rock. Someone asks, "you  came all the here to sleep?", which Jaeshin ignores. But  he gets up to drink a bit, to settle back again. The same  student congratulates Yoonhee on advancing to a higher  level student status (I think the students do this  depending on the results of their tests) and offers her a  drink. She just responds that she's lucky. The student  leaves, and Jaeshin extends her legs to tap her on the  shoulder.

She says, "What?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing, he says."

"You're still below me, though."

"What? In what?"

"I already advanced from those levels, before."

"Did I say otherwise?"

Then he pushed her waist with his foot. He turns his back  to her, and sighs, "If you graduate and leave this place  (SKK) before me, I'll haunt you forever and never leave you alone!"

"Maybe you shouldn't try and hold me down but study hard!"

"Hey! I--I've been reading! A little."

Yoonhee is taken back because when does Jaeshin ever  stuttuer? She smiles at it, and Jaeshin having seen her smile, buries his face into his arms to hide his own.  Another student approaches them to give Yoonhee more congratulatory drinks. Yoonhee hesitates on taking the drink (because of last time) and Jaeshin sits up and snatches the drink, and gulps it down. He yells at the  student who offered the drink. "There's not even that  much alcohol! Stop giving so much to this kid." He chases  the student away. Jaeshin tells Yoonhee, "Don't drink a  drop more. If you get knocked out last time, I'm not  carrying you back! I'll just leave you here in the water,  got it?"

Sunjoon, who has been surrounded by scholars, gets up to go to Yoonhee and Jaeshin. Sunjoon hangs his hat on a tree  and takes Yoonhee's to do the same. He goes to the water  and raises his pant legs to dip his foot. He tells Yoonhee  to do the same, and Yoonhee, who doesn't want to reveal  her hairless foot and legs, just touches the water with  her hands.

A pebble gets thrown their way, and it's Jaeshin. Other  scholars, including Yongha, who see Jaeshin throwing  pebbles on top of the rock, they sneak up on Jaeshin and  grab him, then throw him into the water. Everyone laughs.  Jaeshin comes back up, yelling, "who was it! I'll kill you  all!" But the scholars are already heading for their next  target: Yoonhee. When Yongha and Jaeshin see this, both of  them scream.

"Not him!"

"You can't!"

All the scholars are surprised and Jaeshin shouts, "he's so weak, he'll probably get sick and we're the ones who'll  have to take care of him! It's your turn!"  Jaeshin takes the attention off Yoonhee and goes after another student. All of them, excluding Yoonhee, all get  into the water and play.

Amidst all the commotion in the water, Sunjoon quietly  steps out and gestures at Yoonhee to follow him. He climbs  up the rocks next to the waterfall and she follows, until  the two are above the waterfall. It's quieter because it's  farther from the sounds of the fall hitting the water.

"Why did we come up?"

"It seemed like you couldn't dip even your foot in the  water because you're worried that the students might do  something. You should be fine here. I'll be here."

The weather is hot, and Yoonhee, if it weren't for the others, would take her clothes off and jump into the  water. Sunjoon starts undressing to squeeze the water out  of his clothes, and when she's sure he is not looking, she  takes off her buh-seon (they are kind of like socks, you  saw Yoonhee trying to take them off Sunjoon in episode 4)  and dips her foot in the water. She raises her pant leg to  dip her leg in even more, and she revels in the feeling of  the cold water.

Sunjoon undresses more and leaves his clothes on the rock,  goes back into the water to wash his hair. Yoonhee looks  up, and she's shocked to see his butt facing her way! Even  though he has his underclothes on, they are so wet that  they are sticking completely to his body. And it leaves  Yoonhee to think about what it must look like in the front and screams silently in her head. Agh! And the  rest of the students on the bottom of the fall only have their underclothes on, too! How many butts will I have to  face? She screams into her head even more.

Jaeshin climbs up with a watermelon in his hand, saying  "You guys were here! Let's eat--what the!? What do you  think you're doing?" Jaeshin runs through the water to  kick Sunjoon into the water. "Where do you think you're  sticking your butt? Hey, did you see anything?" Jaeshin  turns to Yoonhee, and Yoonhee shakes her head violently.  He gives her the watermelon, and Sunjoon comes out of the  water, saying, "That was dangerous!" Jaeshin replies, "how  can a scholar show that much skin so easily? Hmph!"  Yoonhee is like, look who's talking... lol.

Yoonhee keeps her gaze on the watermelon, and Sunjoon  comes out of the water and puts some clothes on. He sits  down near Yoonhee and sees her small foot. He thinks to  himself, so strange. At age nineteen, some are already  fathers, but he is still so small. His hands and feet are  so small! Was he too embarrassed to show them?

Sunjoon catches himself getting nervous at the sight of  just the bare skin of her foot. What is he going to do  with himself?