[Guest Writer: Takenoko] To Meet the Height of Birds (2/?) – A SKKS fanfic

Thanks so much for the kind encouragement and feedback, everyone! Here's the next installment - even though we didn't catch a glimpse of our dear Geol Oh during the welcoming ceremony, I'm sure he was hiding around there, somewhere ;)

Title: To Meet the Height of Birds (Episode #2)
Characters: Jae Shin, Yoon Hee
Genre: General, Romance

Words: 777
Summary: …But I can feel stardust catch in my throat.

o.o0o.o

The welcoming ceremony is not one of Moon Jae Shin’s favorite events. In fact, of all of Sungkyunkwan’s year-round pomp and circumstance, it is probably the one occasion he has the least amount of interest in. Year after year, the same ghoul costumes, the same tedious heckling, the same trite “delicacies” presented to greedy or bored seniors who are merely upholding school tradition. This year, however, he goes because Gu Yong Ha is a senior and will be one of the ones presiding over the reception, and he doesn’t want to hear the meticulous recounting of events and all the gossip that Yong Ha will surely regale him with if he admits he wasn’t at the ceremony. Still, just because he’d promised to go to forestall any whining from the manipulative Yeorim, doesn’t mean he personally has to go bump elbows with the newbies, so he perches himself strategically in the shadowy nook of a tree just outside the courtyard and settles in for a nice, long nap.

The muted sounds of the offering of beef and watermelon are nothing new, over-exaggerated though their merits may be. There is a pause, and then the next speaker, someone with a quiet, somewhat familiar voice, offers his gift.

Jae Shin cracks open one eyelid as Byung-choon kicks the freshman’s basket aside, sending what looks like homemade mung bean rice cakes into the dirt. He scoffs to himself. The mockery is nothing new, either. Any second now, the young man kneeling before the table (why does his stance remind him of someone he’d seen just recently?) will crawl back to the waiting crowd and disappear shamefully into anonymity. Jae Shin closes his eye.

But wait. The footsteps have stopped. A sharp turn, and then they head decisively back in the direction of the crackling flames. A resolute tenor rings out over the silent crowd, who is held captive by the following words:

“Studying literature and searching for the truth is what a scholar should do right? In the midst of all the books around you, is there any one that says you can throw food of a poor family’s onto the ground? “

Jae Shin’s eyes snap open and he looks down.

“Please answer,” the young man demands. He’s facing away from the students so Jae Shin can’t see his face, but he can see his slender frame, clad in pale goldenrod, practically quivering with indignation. Yong Ha has removed his mask and the crowd’s murmuring is making Byong-choon’s blustering hard to hear.

Now Lee Sun Joon, whose voice he recognizes from the rare Left State Minister’ dinner that he’s actually made it to, is interfering.

And now Yeorim is going around, forcing people to try a morsel of this newest offering, so unexpected in its simplicity.

“Because it’s the hardship of the citizens, everyone take a bite.”

Jae Shin smirks a bit at that. Trust Gu Yong Ha to figure out how to make even steamed homemade rice cakes seem like a treat. Though perhaps a treat it truly is, for not a single student has grimaced or spat out his mouthful in distaste. In fact, even Byong-choon continues chewing doggedly as Ha In Soo steps in to confront the new student. It looks as if, for tonight at least, this -Kim Yoon Shik, was it?- will be safe from the president’s wrath. Jae Shin breathes a small sigh and sits back, subconsciously letting his muscles relax from their tiger-like tautness.

Later, after everyone has disbanded in haste to complete the tasks they’ve been assigned to, he spots the discarded straw basket among the rest of the shredded packaging and silk wrappings piled together for disposal, and plucks out the last of the rice cakes to hold up to the moonlight. It looks a dull green, not shiny or crispy at the edges like those he remembers eating at summer festivals in years past. Kim Yoon Shik’s family, he theorizes idly, probably isn’t one to indulge in pan-fried rice cakes. He is curious about how much sugar they could afford to put into them, as well.

‘Hardship of the citizens,’ Yong Ha had called it.

He takes a bite, and the subtle glide of sweetness against his palate takes him by surprise. The texture of the rice cake is just right, not too sticky nor too grainy, and its fragrant aroma is pleasantly mellow, like freshly brewed green tea.

Hm. Kim Yoon Shik’s rice cakes are nothing to be ashamed of, he allows approvingly.

Jae Shin shoves the rest of the cake into his mouth and wipes his hands perfunctorily on his pants, then saunters off towards the dorms.

o.o0o.o

Come on, guys, who else thinks those rice cakes were probably delicious? XD