[Link] Taming the Crazy Horse - A SKKS fanfic

Chapter 4 and 5 up!

Title: Taming the Crazy Horse (by akane47)
Genre: Drama, Romance (Post-drama)
Characters: Jae Shin, OFC (Original Female Character)
Words: TBA
Summary: N/A

Link to Chapter One: http://akane47.livejournal.com/2832.html
Link to Chapter Two: http://akane47.livejournal.com/3476.html
Link to Chapter Three: http://akane47.livejournal.com/4054.html
Link to Chapter Four: http://akane47.livejournal.com/4225.html
Link to Chapter Five: http://akane47.livejournal.com/4839.html

[Link] Taming the Crazy Horse - A SKKS fanfic

Chapter 3 up!

Title: Taming the Crazy Horse (by akane47)
Genre: Drama, Romance (Post-drama)
Characters: Jae Shin, OFC (Original Female Character)
Words: TBA
Summary: N/A

Link to Chapter One: http://akane47.livejournal.com/2832.html
Link to Chapter Two: http://akane47.livejournal.com/3476.html
Link to Chapter Three: http://akane47.livejournal.com/4054.html

[Link] Taming the Crazy Horse - A SKKS fanfic

First day of my research scholarship period over, and it looks as though Tofu will be very busy over her summer break. =( Updates may or may not be sporadic (and I apologise in advance for that)!

However, I do come bearing a peace offering---

akane47 has very kindly allowed me to link to her work-in-progress Jae Shin+OC multi-chaptered story over at LJ! You'll love it, I'm sure... I know I did. =D

Title: Taming the Crazy Horse
Genre: Drama, Romance (Post-drama)
Characters: Jae Shin, OFC (Original Female Character)
Words: TBA
Summary: N/A

Link to Chapter One: http://akane47.livejournal.com/2832.html
Link to Chapter Two: http://akane47.livejournal.com/3476.html

[Play Pretend] - A SKKS Fanfic

[What if Yong Ha had been forced to marry that mystery girl in Ep. 17? A foray into the what-might-have-been.]

Title: Play Pretend
Genre: Angst (Alternate Timeline)
Characters: Yong Ha, OFC (Original Female Character)
Words: 1374
Summary: They are both brilliant actors, trapped in roles that neither want.  
---Eleven glimpses into the unhappy marriage of Gu Yong Ha and Park He Ra.

Musical inspiration: California King Bed by Rihanna [download] [Youtube]

“In this California king bed, we’re ten thousand miles apart…”

o.o0o.o

There are many reasons why she married him, but love was never one of them.

o.o0o.o

Their courtship is perfunctory. Pretty declarations of intent arrive in the form of fragrant hot-house flowers and flawlessly cut gemstones, and He Ra smiles prettily and pretends to be flattered as she accepts these meaningless tokens from the Gu House servant, all picked out and packaged by his young Master’s hands.

The (too-bright) flowers she gives to her younger sisters (He Ra has always hated the colour yellow anyway), and the jewels are immediately valuated and sold to pay off some of the family’s debts – their non-existent debts, as far as polite society is concerned.

(The gifts mean nothing to Park He Ra except how much they are worth.)

o.o0o.o

“Lady He Ra,” her intended greets winsomely, when they meet in person for the first time. “It truly is a pleasure.”

“Lord Yong Ha,” she returns equally sweetly, trying not to curl her lip in disgust at his title – a counterfeit, coin-bought farce of a genealogy his filthy street-corner blood doesn’t even deserve. It chaffs at He Ra that she – the Park He Ra – needs this man, and that her once-exalted family has sunk so low as to consort with such riff-raff. Gu Yong Ha is a dandy dressed in colours as vivid as the flowers he sent her, and coupled with the dazzling smile he flashes, it is almost bright enough to give her a headache.

(…Then again, it always is rather discomfiting to find that your would-be-husband is prettier than you are.)

o.o0o.o

In their occasional pre-marital meetings (all minutely pre-arranged and carefully chaperoned, of course), Yong Ha is never anything but perfectly solicitous.  

“Allow me, Agaassi,” he says, gallantly offering his arm during a pleasant evening stroll on the night of the Harvest Moon festival. “The path is slippery here,” he explains, “and I can’t bear to see such a beautiful lady fall.”

Unmoved by the flattery (‘lady’ she is, ‘beautiful’ she is not), He Ra merely smiles and thanks him, before dutifully accepting his pro-offered arm. Though his actions are ever-gentlemanly, his touch is light and devoid of ardour, and He Ra is much too prudent a woman to fool herself into believing that he actually cares for her.

A commercial transaction, she thinks. Offer and acceptance. Supply and demand.

A mutually beneficial arrangement.

(It’s never been anything more than that.)

o.o0o.o

Their wedding is an ostentatious and overly lavish affair, with enough wine and guests and fireworks to make it to the front page of the morning news the following day.

The entire event is a little too lavish for He Ra’s liking, but it was never really about her (for her) – not really. From the fine red-violet bridal silk to the important Ming delicacies at their sumptuous wedding feast, it was only ever just an excuse for the wealth of the Gu House and the prestige of the Park House to be proudly flaunted for the whole world to see. She knows this.

But she doesn’t mind.

Appearances, after all, were important. They mattered.

(He Ra understood this better than anyone.)

o.o0o.o

Alone in the wedding chamber, she waits for her new husband to come to her. It is their wedding night, and though she knows what is expected of her, the clammy iciness in her palms betrays her trepidation and fright.

‘No!’ she reminds herself, gritting her teeth. ‘Don’t forget who you are. You are Park He Ra – daughter of a great and noble House – and you cower before no merchant’s son!’

And so, when her husband finally enters the room to lift her veil, He Ra’s eyes are serene. Slowly, silk and hair pins fall to the floor as her naked figure is revealed in the flickering candle light.

Face averted, half hidden by a curtain of long, ebony hair, He Ra allows herself to smile at the irony. Though she has never been so bare in front of any man, the walls to her heart have never been so impenetrable. 

o.o0o.o

As she stares at her husband’s peaceful, sleeping face, He Ra acknowledges that it could be much worse.

He’s not a bad man, she admits to herself grudgingly. A wry, sardonic smile teases the corners of her mouth when she recalls their previous night’s activities. And definitely not a bad lover.

But while she knows that most women would have long succumbed to her husband’s (too) pretty looks and many charms, Park He Ra is not ‘most women’. There is something that rings altogether false about this charismatic man, with his too practiced smiles and quicksilver tongue, but He Ra refuses to be charmed by it. It makes her suspicious. It makes her wary.

(You may have bought my title with three thousand mun, she thinks. But you, husband, cannot buy my heart so cheaply.)

o.o0o.o

He is not a sincere man, but then again, she is not a sincere woman.

“The servants tell me that you didn’t come home last night,” He Ra remarks in passing late one morning over tea. Her voice is light. “Did work keep you up again?”

Her husband makes a face. “Unfortunately so,” he replies, equally lightly. “There was a mix-up with one of our premium silk shipments. I was forced to spend the whole night at the warehouse, sorting through the samples. Aish, it was dreadful!”

He Ra quirks a brow. “…Oh?” 

His expression turns sly. “I would have much preferred being in bed with you, of course...” he purrs, his eyes suggestive and full of promise.

Liar, she thinks. Liar, liar, liar.

“I’ll have Mi Na make you some ginseng tea,” she says, tutting sympathetically. “You work too hard!”

Picture of the doting wife, He Ra does not draw attention to the fact that there is a stray and very telling blue-black bruise on the back of his neck – a lovebite that she never put there. 

(We all play our parts.)

o.o0o.o

Months later, her increasingly absent husband is shocked when he discovers that she can manage their household accounts on her own.

“I didn’t know you could use an abacus,” he says, his voice laced heavily with surprise.

For long moments, He Ra is silent – the slight pause in her dextrous fingers the only indication that she’d heard him. (Briefly, she wonders if she should point out to that when one grew up in a withering noble family who struggled to make ends meet while pretending to have money to spare, balancing numbers became more than a life skill – it became a matter of simple survival.)

But He Ra stays silent.

The seconds tick by and Yong Ha is forced to clear his throat several times in the uncomfortable quiet. Finally, after giving the wooden beads one last flick, He Ra lifts her eyes to meet his gaze, her expression polite but utterly cold.

“With all due respect, most honourable husband,” she replies at last, the addressal almost farcical in its courtesy. “…there is much that you do not know about me.”

(You never bothered to try.)

o.o0o.o

It is not a happy marriage, but they are very convincing pretenders.

Years later, Yong Ha will still shower He Ra with empty compliments and empty gifts. Years later, He Ra will still remain the dutiful, faithful wife, keeping the dinner warm when he is late and a cup of tea waiting by the door when he finally (if at all) gets home. Years later, they will have perfected this script so well that they won't even be certain if they’re acting anymore.

But He Ra doesn’t know this yet.

For now, for tonight, when Yong Ha stumbles home in the early hours of morning smelling of strong liquor and easy women – other women – she can only dig her fingers into the bedding and turn away, feigning sleep.

She never deluded herself that a man like him would remain faithful, and least of all to her.

Besides, I don’t care, she tells herself fiercely, I don’t care. I don’t.

Because it was never about love or fidelity or honour (silly things, useless things) in this sham of a marriage anyway – it was never about that.

She knows this.

(I sold myself to this fate.)

o.o0o.o

The next day, Park He Ra orders a han-bok shot through with gold.

o.o0o.o

Author’s Note:

I know you will all hate me for this, but I just can’t seem to stay away from the angst. Personally, I really like how this piece turned out (actually, I think it's probably my favourite piece so far)… although you’d probably disagree with me there?

However, please let me clarify --- it isn’t that I don’t want Yong Ha happy – believe me, I do! – but that I just find it really hard to believe that a pleasure-seeking, easily bored and very dangerous playboy of a man like Yong Ha will ever be happy with just one woman. (Unless, of course, it happened to be Min Jin. =P) Oh, I'm sure he'll be good and charming and not a bad husband, necessarily, to his wife, but I doubt the bonds of marriage alone will keep him away from Moran-gak. And back then, it wasn't like it was anything unusual for men to stray. Most women accepted that.

I wrote ‘Play Pretend’ predominantly as a way of exploring what arranged marriages to men like Yong Ha often was like for their unlucky wives, and it is intended to be read in parallel with/as a companion piece to ‘Stay’. The central theme running through both pieces is, of course, trust. More than anything – or so the older generation tells me – marriages will only work if both parties are 100% determined and 150% committed to make them work. In order for that to happen, communication and trust are key – both of which are (as you can see) glaringly absent in ‘Play Pretend’.

The real tragedy, I think, is that Yong Ha and He Ra would otherwise be so very compatible – if only they’d been brave enough to stop pretending. He Ra won’t let herself love Yong Ha because she wants to spare herself the heartbreak, and Yong Ha isn’t committed enough to He Ra to worm his way through all the shields she’s raised around her heart. His insincerity keeps her at a distance, her coldness chases him away. It’s sad, because I think they’re truly made for each other. 

Personally, I really like He Ra as a character – even in all her flawed, cold-hearted bitchiness. To me, she embodies that girl that you love to hate, but at the same time can’t help loving and/or sympathising with anyway. I hope you’ll be able to see the humanity and vulnerability and strength in her, despite her blue-blooded prejudice and manipulative, mercenary attitude. If not, well – I haven’t done my job properly. =P (Also, maybe you'll also notice the yellow/gold tie-in in the opening and closing scenes? Deliberate, as always, lol.)

Let me know what you think! I’m really curious as to your thoughts on this one. =)

xoxo

Tofu

[Stay] - A SKKS Fanfic

#3 in the [10 Moments] series:

Ten different scenarios, ten different women --- ten different ways for Jae Shin to love again. Told in ten self-standing short stories.

Title: Stay
Genre: General, Family (Post-Drama)
Characters: Jae Shin, OFC (Original Female Character)
Words: 1206
Summary: He doesn’t love her and she doesn’t love him. But they could learn. Together.

Musical inspiration: Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard (Once OST) [download] [Youtube]

o.o0o.o

On the day of her wedding, Han Eul cries.

o.o0o.o

She’s never met her groom, but she’s heard the rumours --- and of his gambling, his drunkenness, his brutality and violence, there are plenty. Sometimes, it was even whispered that Moon Jae Shin could kill a man with his bare hands without breaking sweat.

‘Guh-ro’, they called him, and his name strikes her heart with fear.

Crazy Horse. Wild One. He-Who-Cannot-Be-Tamed.


The very thought of such a monster's hand on her repulses Han Eul to the core, but this marriage is her father’s will, and Han Eul is nothing if not a filial daughter.

Her father is her Lord and Master, and obeying him is her duty – just as she must one day obey her husband, and later, her son – if Heaven is kind enough to bless her with such a gift.

…She has no other choice but to do so.

o.o0o.o

She is a reluctant, trembling bride in brilliant scarlet silk, her face painted in the ghostly pallor and unnaturally red lips of a porcelain doll. It forms like a stiff, frozen mask over her face, belying the sharp, gnawing terror in her heart.

Every step forward weighs on her thin shoulders like the pinching load of the elaborate bridal headpiece on her head; the bright, thunderous sound of wedding drums and firecrackers ringing like a funeral dirge in her ears.

o.o0o.o

As her unduly swollen and still-red eyes meet her groom’s, and Han Eul takes in his appearance for the first time, she is shocked to find that he is startlingly, boyishly handsome.

Is it possible for someone so beautiful to be so monstrous? ---He looks nothing like the Guh-ro she imagined, or the gruesome beast that the rumours painted.

But Han Eul knows better than to take comfort in this unexpected revelation.

…After all, monsters could have beautiful faces, too.

o.o0o.o

The ceremony over, the lavish wedding feast at an end, the new bride is led by a bevy of clucking matrons to her marriage bed, where she is carefully undressed and readied for the night ahead. When their duties are done, the women leave in a chattering cloud of helpful insinuations and laughter, and all too soon, Han Eul is left frighteningly alone in the sudden, ominous silence. 

And so she waits, trembling in the dimly lit wedding chamber, listening for the sound of her husband’s approaching footsteps to the quick-fire rhythm of her pounding heart.

o.o0o.o

In wide-eyed rigid vigil, Han Eul sits, but even when the morning light streaks pale orange across the eastern horizon, of her husband there is still no sign.

He never steps foot into the wedding chamber.

Not that night. Or the next. Or the next.

Eventually, sheer exhaustion wins out over the maidenly fear of her matrimonial duties – those terrifying, unknown and unmentionable things that she knew were expected of a wife – until Han Eul at last succumbs to an exhausted stupor on the third night.

Slowly, the new Lady of the House of Moon grows accustomed to sleeping alone.

o.o0o.o

As the days pass, Han Eul realises that her previous fears were utterly unfounded. Her husband would never lay a hand on her. He would never strike her, or hurt her.

...He doesn’t even touch her at all.

o.o0o.o

Days turn into weeks, weeks into months. As winter melts into spring, Han Eul gradually settles into her new life. When her daily household duties are done, she reads, embroiders, and takes long strolls in the extensive Moon gardens to admire the budding flowers. Her father-in-law is stern, but kind, and she is both relieved and saddened to find that she has no mother-in-law under whose thumb she would live out her days. Instead, it is the servants’ malicious whispers that make her flinch, but Han Eul tries to ignore them as best she could.

‘The young Lady has yet to produce an heir,’ she overhears them say. ‘…Hardly surprising, when the young Lord never visits her.’

‘Perhaps she’s displeasing to him.’

‘Perhaps he’ll take a concubine.’

‘Perhaps he already has a lover.’

Although self-doubt and anxiety blooms like the pale petals of the plum blossom tree she so adores, Han Eul continues to spend her days in relative peace and tranquillity. She rarely sees her husband, and when she does, he is as much a stranger to her as he was three months earlier.

Han Eul forces herself to enjoy the solitude, refusing to admit that she is lonely.

o.o0o.o

On the last day of Spring, everything changes.

o.o0o.o

It is just after midday, and the house is quiet. Alone and confident of Jae Shin's absence, Han Eul heads for the Moon family library, hoping to finish writing a few letters home before evening fell.

---The last thing she expects is to see him there.

Her husband is sitting at the lone desk in the middle of the room, poring over an old scroll laid out before him. Although he is dressed presentably enough today, his wild hair is still rebelliously loose, and a few stray locks fall into his eyes when his head jerks up at Han Eul’s sudden entrance.

---He looks just as shocked to see her there.

For a long, awkward instant, the hapless pair can only blink owlishly at each other, until years of unforgiving etiquette-training finally takes over, and Han Eul bows, hurriedly backing out.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” she stammers out gracelessly, even as her panicked thoughts clamour for attention in her head. When did he come back? Why was he here? He was never at home in the afternoon! “I didn’t think you’d be—since you—I mean, that is to say—I’ll… I’ll go.”

“No, stop!” he calls out suddenly, instantly halting her nervous retreat. There is an almost unsteady, hesitant quality to the brashly forceful tone. “Just—Just wait a moment.“

Han Eul turns, expectant. This is the most he’s ever said to her.

She watches, wide-eyed with surprise, as her husband pushes aside some books to make room for her at the aged gingko-wood desk.

Slowly, he swallows, his dark gaze flitting to hers before just as quickly flitting away.

“You—“ he mutters lowly. “…You can stay.”

o.o0o.o

You can stay.

o.o0o.o

So maybe he doesn’t love her. So maybe she doesn’t love him. But they still have a lifetime ahead to learn to love each other.

Maybe someday they’ll be brave enough to meet halfway. Maybe someday the carefully constructed spheres of ‘yours’ and ‘mine’ will fall, fading into ‘us’ and ‘we’ and ‘ours’. Maybe someday they’ll have children, a little boy and a little girl with his proud nose and her dimpled smile. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll be a family, and this will be home.

It is not a happily-ever-after.

…But it is a beginning.

o.o0o.o

Stay.

o.o0o.o

Author’s Note:

In direct contrast to yesterday's Tofu-dish of 'Practice Makes Perfect' crack XD, this is me trying my hand at what is probably my most historically-accurate and realistic piece of SKKS work yet. It is also the fastest piece of writing I’ve ever produced, and heavily unedited, so you’ll probably find that it’s my worst piece of work as well. T_T As in the case of ‘Silence’ – the idea, I think, was a good one, even though the execution leaves much to be desired.

Although arranged marriages seem so archaic and barbaric to most of us now, I have an Indian friend with cousins for whom arranged marriages – yes, even an arranged marriage with a complete stranger – are still very much a reality. But the thing is, she tells me, often these marriages work out very well. Sure, it might not be the quick-fire flash of attraction and love-at-first-sight that girls always dream of, but oft-times, it is the quiet companionship and respect of two people who slowly grow to love each other.

…And who’s to say that isn’t the best love of all?

(Han Eul is So Eun in my head.)

[Practice Makes Perfect] - A SKKS Fanfic

Title: Practice Makes Perfect
Genre: Romance, Humour (Post-Drama)
Characters: Jae Shin, OFC (Original Female Character)
Words: 1908
Summary: The Red Messenger and the Blue Messenger – in a very tight spot.
--- The mother of all clichés, for your (crack) reading pleasure. 

[N/B: This is a continuation of 10 Moments #1: A Lesson in Irony.]

o.o0o.o

“This way! Capture them!”

As he raced along the darkened streets of Hanseong with a band of soldiers fast on his heels, Moon Jae Shin was hit with a distinct sense of déjà vu. But this time, it wasn’t him who had done anything to merit the chase. In fact, Jae Shin hadn’t done anything remotely illegal for the three years he’d been Commander of the Royal Defence Guard.

Nope. Not even a little.

…......Except, perhaps, aiding and abetting a certain Blue Messenger – a Blue Messenger who was currently speeding along like a particularly diminutive shadow by his side.

Jae Shin sighed. “…Do I even want to know why you were graffiting the gates of the Ju House with ‘Is it any wonder Ju Dae Mo’s an unmitigated ass? Compared to his mother, even a baboon has class!’?”

His pint-sized companion sniffed. Even at eighteen, she was still no taller than she'd been when they first met --- or any less troublesome, for that matter. But somewhere along the line, Jae Shin’s half-hearted attempts to capture the little pain-in-the-ass had turned into the full-time job of making sure that the Blue Messenger – otherwise known as Hwang Eun Mi, the clever only daughter of Merchant Hwang – didn’t get herself captured by the hundreds of angry victims of her many ‘grand causes’.

“I wrote nothing but the truth,” she declared proudly. “That—that absolute cad of a man and his snooty high-and-mighty mother had the nerve to break off his engagement with the young Lady Nae just because they found out her family had bought their yang-ban status!” Even through her panting breaths, the outrage and righteous anger in her voice was obvious. “And to think, he actually promised that he’ll ‘love her forever’. Asshole!”

“…Under Joseon law, the Ju House does have the right to do that,” Jae Shin pointed out, ignoring the thoroughly unladylike language that would have made lesser men flinch. “And it isn’t as if the Naes are completely innocent either, being deceptive themselves.”

If looks could kill, then the glare that Eun Mi levelled at Jae Shin would have wiped out a small village. “Hey, they didn’t have a choice!” she argued. “It’s not their fault they weren't born yang-ban – and besides, what’s so amazing about being noble anyway? Merchants can have class, too, you know!”

Gesturing at herself, she turned up her nose in true Hwang Eun Mi fashion. “Take me, for example. I’m very classy.”

Very deliberately, Jae Shin turned away, trying hard not to laugh. Luckily for him, Eun Mi was too caught up in her rant to notice. “I mean, my father bought our yang-ban status, too… and your father doesn’t disapprove of me, right?”

Jae Shin opened his mouth to correct her, but then shut it again, thinking better of it. Technically, Minister Moon didn’t exactly approve either, but he hadn’t kicked up too much of a fuss after he’d found out about their budding relationship. In fact, he was probably just relieved that Jae Shin was finally showing some healthy interest in females at all. When Jae Shin announced his intention to take Hwang Eun Mi as his bride only days before, years of experience of going toe-to-toe with his stubborn son (to little avail) had forced Minister Moon to give his reluctant assent. Of course, he would have been happier with a more blue-blooded match, but Eun Mi could be quite charming when she wanted to be. (…The fact that the Hwang were the richest and most powerful jade merchant clan in the country, and that Eun Mi’s dowry was worth the price of a small island, hadn’t hurt either.)

The footsteps of the angry Ju guards were getting louder. Jae Shin groaned, rolling his eyes heavenward.

“I’m the Commander of the Royal Defence Guard! I should be arresting you for defacement of property – all forty-six counts of it – plus a whole multitude of other crimes and it’ll be no less than you deserve,” he grumbled under his breath. “And yet… why do I always find myself getting your skinny ass out of these ridiculous messes?”

Eun Mi batted her eyes, simpering cutely. “Because you’re passionately in love with me and you couldn’t bear to see this adorable skinny ass be thrown into some icky jail cell, of course.”

Jae Shin scoffed.

“…If you keep spouting such delusional crap,” he retorted, “It’ll become a habit.”

Eun Mi merely smiled, deliberately wriggling the fingers of the hand tightly grasped in his. It was proof enough that his barbed words were all empty blustering. “…Chagiya, I think you and I both know you’re just in denial.”

The convenient gap and perfect hiding place Jae Shin spotted in the walls of the Ju stables saved him from protesting further – although secretly, he knew she was right. (…Not that he’d ever admit to that, of course.)

Yanking Eun Mi by the hand, he all but pushed her under the floorboards. “—Just shut up and get in here!”

o.o0o.o

...Unfortunately, it was only after the pair had squeezed themselves in a tumble of tangled limbs into the tiny space behind the stable’s haystack that Jae Shin realised this was a very, very Bad Idea.

Before he knew it, the formidable Commander found himself sprawled over his petite and very female companion, his face nestled in her hair and her little hand flat on his bare chest where the flap of his doh poh had fallen open. With his body pressed tightly against hers, her modest curves were painfully obvious to him, and suddenly Jae Shin found he couldn’t think at all.

Her gasping breath on the sensitive spot of his neck sent a flood of warmth rushing through him, and the skin beneath her palm felt like it was on fire. Frozen, panicked and utterly helpless to the sudden rush of twenty-six years of repressed hormones, Jae Shin could only wait for her to register the inappropriate place where her hand was resting and rectify the situation on her own. But when Eun Mi made no move to shift her hand, distantly, Jae Shin heard the fast-shrinking rational voice in his head pipe up.

‘…Moon Jae Shin, m’boy, you are officially screwed.’

Jae Shin swallowed. Hard.

The night air, once comfortably warm, now felt thick and cloying. Weak slivers of moonlight shone through the gaps in the wooden boards, splashing over the delicate white arch of Eun Mi’s collarbone and the flushed pink of her cheeks. Helplessly, he found his eyes being drawn to the cupid’s bow of her parted mouth, so close that he only needed to dip down a bare breath for their lips to meet.

…Had her lips always looked this soft, or this tempting?

Unnerved at the direction his thoughts were taking him, he barely registered the sound of his hiccup over the deafening hammering of his heart.

“What was that?” a guard suddenly asked, and Jae Shin cursed his embarrassing knee-jerk reflex that only ever made its appearance when he was near a woman. The footsteps sounded nearer, stepping close enough that Jae Shin could reach out and grab the man’s leg if he’d tried, and he realised with a growing horror from the familiar welling up of pressure in his chest that it was going to happen again and there was absolutely nothing he could do – he couldn’t stop it if he tried----------

---Until Eun Mi reached up with her free hand, entwined her fingers around the thick locks at the nape of his neck, and pressed her lips to his.

The urge to hiccup instantly disappeared in the face of this shocking development.

Utterly flummoxed, Jae Shin could only freeze for several long seconds before his body took over his mind and then his lips were brushing more firmly over hers, meeting her in the kiss.

Warmth, softness, the elusive taste of peaches.

Jae Shin felt, rather than saw, Eun Mi smile, before she tightened her grip on his hair, and pulled him even closer, their pounding hearts beating in sync.

...Neither of them noticed when their pursuers left.

o.o0o.o
 

It was only the need for air that broke the couple apart, and, chest still heaving, Jae Shin stared down at Eun Mi with wide, dilated eyes.

He’d just kissed a girl.
 

He’d just kissed Eun Mi.
 

…He was still on Eun Mi.

Forgetting his surroundings in his panicked haste to get off said girl, Jae Shin hurriedly tried to sit up---

---and promptly banged his head on the low and incredibly unforgiving wooden boards above him.

For the love of—

Swearing loudly, he wriggled back and out, fiercely rubbing at his throbbing head, while Eun Mi only dissolved into peals of giggles, her thin frame shaking with the force of her laughter.

Jae Shin glared. The girl was deriving far too much amusement at his expense for his liking.

“…Well, thank goodness the guards weren’t here to hear that,” she finally managed, as she followed him out moments after, still laughing.

Jae Shin folded his arms, too embarrassed to meet her eyes. With his peripheral vision, he watched as Eun Mi brushed herself off, and then tapped at her lips thoughtfully.

“Funny,” she confessed. “You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve daydreamed about doing that.”

Jae Shin whipped around, bug-eyed.

But Eun Mi just sighed, shaking her head a little as she rambled on in the same offhanded fashion,
“It’s a shame that reality was so disappointing, though. I mean, you’d think that a man like you would have better technique than a merchant’s son, but… I guess not.”

A beat of shocked silence, and then…

“—W-WHAT?! THAT’S—“ Jae Shin exploded, before his eyes narrowed dangerously. “…And how would you know how a merchant’s son kissed, huh?”

Eun Mi rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you can’t expect ‘that’ back there to be my first kiss,” she scoffed. “…I was almost sixteen when I met you, you know – and before that… well, I’ve always been a very curious girl.”

“…Don’t worry, though,” she added brightly. “They were just a couple of meaningless kisses. My virtue is still fully intact for our wedding night!”

Mind carefully blank, Jae Shin said nothing, struggling to think safe thoughts. That was too much information for his brain to handle.

“Besides,” the shameless girl continued. “First kisses are overrated, anyway.” She shot him a nonplussed look. “What, was that yours?”

Taking his gape-mouthed goldfish expression as affirmation, Eun Mi smirked. “…Huh,” she said thoughtfully, before shrugging it off. “Well, can’t say I’m surprised.”

Male pride thoroughly trampled in the dirt by this stage, Jae Shin could only sputter at his betrothed, unable to produce actual words. But Eun Mi only heaved another dramatic sigh, completely ignoring his outraged reaction.

“…Oh well, it can’t be helped,” she said in long-suffering tones. “Since you’ve still got heaps of room for improvement, we’re going to have to create… opportunities for you to practice.”

The sputters died an instant death in Jae Shin’s throat.

Eun Mi smiled mischievously, and there was something in her sly, knowing expression that bore an uncanny resemblance to Yeorim at his flirtatious best. “With me. A lot.”

That said, she skipped off merrily down the street, her long braid swishing enthusiastically with every bouncing step.

Still momentarily frozen in place, Jae Shin could only watch her go, his poor brain trying to process the events of the last ten minutes. As his eyes followed her retreating back, a small smile gradually spread over his lips.

…Practice, huh?

He could handle that.

o.o0o.o

Musical inspiration: Kissin’ U by Miranda Cosgrove [download] [Youtube]

Author’s Note:
 

…If that’s not crack fan-service enough for you then I don’t know what is. XD
 

So I was re-watching Ep 20 again, and after seeing all the cutesy kisses shared between Sun Joon and Yoon Hee, I figured, Jae Shin really needed some lip exercise of his own. Unfortunately, the more serious 10 Moments #3 that I was in the process of writing wasn’t going to quite deliver that.
 

Now, you know and I know that Jae Shin is probably more hopeless than Garang in the female-aversion department, and he’d never get around to kissing a girl if left to his own devices. On the other hand, the bold and daring Blue Messenger would have no problems in taking the initiative, right? 

With the plot-bunny having burrowed itself in my brain, voila! ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ was born.
 

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^_~

xoxo.

Tofu

[Guest Writer: Krb] The Crash Course - A SKKS Fanfic

Title: The Crash Course
Genre: Angst, Romance
Characters: Gu Yong Ha, OFC (Original female character)
Words: 3502

Summary: Both parties in the relationship go through a crash course on each other… all in a day.

[This is the final part of Yong Ha’s love story. Please read (1)AT THE CROSSROADS and (2)SURPRISES ALL AROUND first in order to enjoy this piece at its best.]

o.o0o.o

The previously-quiet Yoon Household had been injected with life. Ever since the wedding plans had been finalized, Gu Yong Ha had begun to call on them regularly.

This morning’s visit, however, was strictly for business. Despite Yong Ha’s assurance to Min Jin that she would be more than adequately provided for, the stubborn girl had still insisted on carrying on with her production.

‘Embroidery was her passion’, she had reasoned with Yong Ha, and subsequently offered him a discount since he was now her betrothed.

Yong Ha consented for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to indulge her as much as possible and couldn’t bear to deny her something as simple as this. Secondly, in truth, there was no one in the entire region whose embroidery works could even come close to hers.

Just a few days ago, an old business acquaintance of his father’s had openly remarked on the beauty of the stitches and complimented Yong Ha on his eye for fashion. He requested Yeorim to specially design a chima-jeogori (hanbok for females). The Old acquaintance had intended for the garment to be a son’s gift to the mother, and it was a request Yong Ha could not turn down.

Min Jin’s last batch of fabric had long been traded off, and Yong Ha approached her to request for more as well as to elicit her input on his latest design. An efficient thinker, Min Jin had the business meeting wrapped up in under an hour—far shorter than what Yong Ha had wished for.

Unwilling to relinquish her company so soon, and without much reason to linger on, Yong Ha asked her out instead. Her face lit up in delight at that prospect and she readily agreed.

o.o0o.o

Yong Ha and Min Jin walked alongside each other in comfortable silence while Nak Ra trailed a few steps behind, near enough to vouch for her Agassi’s modesty, yet far enough to allow the couple some privacy.

Yong Ha, with a closed fan in one hand, and both hands clasped at his back, broke the silence first. Without turning his head or missing a step, he asked the question that had been nagging at him for some time.

“How did your embroidery come to be so good? I know it’s common for girls of nobility to be trained in such an art. But yours is really…” He couldn’t find the appropriate word, so shook his head and smiled as substitution.

Min Jin considered her answer for a moment before replying.

“I guess it’s because of my mother.” A faraway look appeared in her eyes. “My mother used to love embroidery and she taught me.”

“And?” Yong Ha prodded.

Min Jin lowered her voice, almost as though she were talking to herself.

“She died of a lung infection when I was 14. I missed her so much then. So I embroidered all the time. Somehow, doing that made me feel as if she was still by my side, teaching me. The more I did it, the better I became. Around the same time, our family clan started its decline. I still wanted to wear pretty clothes, but that became a luxury that was hard to afford, and so I started to make my own intricate designs instead.”

Yong Ha’s chest tightened at this confession of hers.

“Then where does that horrid Merchant Song come in?”

Min Jin sighed. “My father became ill. No doubt we could afford the physician and medicinal herbs, but our finances became even tighter. And my brother likes to gamble. He does care for me, but that’s one of his many weaknesses.

“Anyway, one day I just wondered if perhaps I could help change my family’s fate by trading my works. I knew it was unorthodox for a Yang-ban lady to be doing so, but what I didn’t expect was for the merchants to be so unwilling to do transactions directly with a girl.”

She paused for a beat to recall Yong Ha’s question and continued.

“Merchant Song was the last merchant I approached. I didn’t like him at all, but I didn’t have a choice. He agreed to buy my fabrics, but only if I adhered to his harsh conditions.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Almost 3 years have passed ever since.”

Not wanting to dwell on the painful past, Min Jin took a deep breath and lifted her face to bask in the warmth of the sunshine. “Well, I do suppose everything worked out for the best.” And her face broadened in a smile.

Her smile widened further when she looked ahead and realized that Yong Ha was leading her towards the mercantile district.

o.o0o.o

When they were nearing, he nodded his head in the direction of the marketplace.

“Come, let me show you around the place I grew up in.”

It was noon, and the marketplace and bustling with activity. The aroma of hot snacks fresh from the steamer was in the air. Merchants were hollering out to passers-by and one another, proudly out-doing each other with their newest wares and prices. On the streets, commuters were hurrying to and fro in both directions. A few stopped to look.

All these were fascinating to Min Jin, who hardly had the chance to experience commerce up this close. But more than anything, Min Jin was fascinated with the way Yong Ha conversed with the stall-tenders. He seemed to know everyone personally and they all greeted him enthusiastically, dishing out freebies to him and teasing him in good humor.

Yong Ha suddenly touched his fingers to Min Jin’s forearm in a gesture to stop her in her tracks. She glanced down at her forearm before turning to look up at him in question. When he didn’t elaborate, her eyes followed his line of sight.

Right in front of them lay a display of female accessories, embroidered ribbons, and mirrors. Reaching out to the display tray, Yong Ha picked out a blue ribbon embroidered with butterflies and held it up against her. He took half a step back to better assess the match, and smiled his approval.

Min Jin raised her eyebrows. “My handiwork is so much better than that. If you want a hair ribbon that much, I can always make one for you.”

With his eyes still examining the embroidery, he replied as a matter-of-factly.

“I know.”

He then reached into his coin pouch to pay the shopkeeper anyway and handed the ribbon to her.

Amused, but nonetheless appreciative, Min Jin accepted it. To Yong Ha’s surprise however, she didn’t tie the ribbon onto her braid, and neither did she keep it in her sleeve. Instead, she held it in her hand, occasionally entwining it around her fingers subconsciously.

Yong Ha’s throat constricted as he wondered to himself how long it had been since she had received a gift from anybody.

“Gomapseumnida.” Min Jin suddenly mumbled, interrupting his thoughts.*

o.o0o.o

Enjoying the poignancy of the moment, Yong Ha and Min Jin resumed their walk wordlessly—two individuals wrapped up in their own world. A few moments later, however, their attention was drawn to a commotion up ahead. Coming towards them, a gang of five youths was chasing a young boy down the street. Too anxious to flee the bullies, the young boy didn’t take heed of his surroundings and slammed right into Min Jin. He stopped momentarily to bow an apology before continuing his getaway. Min Jin was too stunned to do anything else but nod in return.

Yong Ha, on the other hand, was more than familiar with the workings of the marketplace. In that split-second, he registered what had just taken place, and sped off to give chase, leaving Min Jin to look on in complete puzzlement.

A minute later, Yong Ha returned, dangling the boy—kicking and flailing, by the back of his collar. He released the boy into a heap on the ground right in front of Min Jin.

Yong Ha fixed his eyes pointedly on the boy, who looked no older than 10.

“Return it.” He ordered firmly, but not unkindly.

Scrambling to his knees, the boy meekly pulled out a purse from under his shirt and offered it back to Min Jin. Comprehension dawned on her as she instinctively felt for her empty pocket with one hand and took her purse back with the other.

“Do you have a family?” she asked.

The boy shook his head. “Just a younger sister. But please don’t punish her too. She’s only 5.” Tears started streaming down his face, and his bottom lip quivered.

Min Jin took in his rags and chapped lips, then stunned everyone into immobility with her next action. She crouched down to the boy, unfastened the brooch from her hanbok, and pressed it into the boy’s open palm. The brooch wasn’t priceless, but it wasn’t worthless either.

Min Jin helped him to his feet and her voice was gentle.

“You’ll have to stop stealing then. If you get caught and locked away, who will take care of your sister?”

The boy, thrown into a state of utter disbelief, looked towards the fancily dressed Young Master. Yong Ha broke out of his dumbfounded stupor, and reached forward to give the boy his fan in exchange for the brooch. That silk fan had been a collector’s item from Qing, and was infinitely more valuable that the silver brooch, but Yong Ha’s mind was intent only on retrieving Min Jin’s bauble.

Unable to believe his good fortune, the little boy quickly got up and ran off before his benefactors could change their mind.

o.o0o.o

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?” Min Jin remarked as they continued on their way.

“What? Catch the thief?”

“No. Give away your fan. That must have been awfully precious.”

“Not as precious as your brooch.”

Min Jin misunderstood that statement. “Ah! You were mistaken. I’m sorry for the loss of your fan. But thank you anyway. You are very kind.”

Yong Ha somehow felt ashamed of the fact that she thought so highly of him, and he tried to clarify things.

“I think there’s something you need to know.”

Min Jin smiled. “What is it?”

“That is… Ah… Ah… Aishhh, this is harder than I thought.” Yong Ha massaged the back of his neck to reorganize his thoughts and continued. “You see, I did use to hang out in… certain places… very often.”

Min Jin blinked, not understanding what he was trying to say.

He continued anyway. “In some circles, I’m known better by my nickname, Yeo—“

His sentence was cut off by a unanimous squeal of delight that erupted out of the blue. It was none other than the entourage of gisaengs from Moran Gak passing through. And they had spotted Yong Ha. A flurry of activity ensued all at once. Eyelashes and fans alike started to flutter flirtatiously in his direction. And Yong Ha—with his old habits that die hard—winked back at them in acknowledgment.

Evidently, that was all the encouragement they needed to come flocking over. In their eagerness to attract the attention of the resident playboy of Joseon, the gisaengs had conveniently overlooked Min Jin’s presence. As the beautiful ladies crowded round her fiancé, Min Jin found herself nudged out of their little circle. She became the picture of an outsider looking in— at a woman curl her arm around her betrothed’s neck, and another clinging on to his elbow, and another…

Nak Ra hurried forward to her mistress…

“Agassi, this…”

…but left her sentence unfinished when the Agassi made no indication of having heard her.

Yong Ha was in an awkward spot. He had after all, at one point or another in his life, spent his nights in the arms of these ladies before. Rebuffing them there and then would have been completely churlish of him. He was, after all, a gentleman. But it wasn’t until they each started to address him personally that he realized how much of a humiliation he was creating for Min Jin.

“Young Master Yeorim, have you forgotten what you told me that night when you insisted on taking my petticoat home?”

“Young Master Yeorim, can you recognize this hairpin that you gave me? I was waiting for you last night.”

“Young Master Yeorim, how could you be so naughty...”

“Young Master Yeorim…”

Yong Ha stretched his neck above the colorful crowd, trying to locate Min Jin, but her face was nowhere to be seen. What he did see was the back of her head among the sea of people at the market, and it was getting smaller by the second. She was leaving him.

Yong Ha panicked, and disentangled himself from the arms of the gisaengs at once. He broke out from the pack with his shoulder and chased after her, only to step on something familiar along the way. He glanced down, picked it up, and turned it over in his hand; it was the ribbon he had bought for her moments ago, by now soiled and tattered from the many shoes that had trampled on it.

Increasing the span of his strides, Yong Ha closed the distance and overtook Min Jin. He planted himself firmly in her way and turned around to face her.

“Yeorim.” Her lips pursed. “So that’s what you were trying to tell me. I’m guessing the innuendo isn’t a coincidence.”

Never in her 19 years had she ever been so utterly humiliated—not even when the merchants spat at her 3 years back. Her eyes ached with unshed tears. But she managed to deliver her next lines without betraying a hint of any emotion whatsoever.

“The betrothal has already been confirmed, and I won’t renege on that. I will see you on our wedding day.”

A single tear escaped and Min Jin dabbed the back of her hand to her cheek.

With a bow of her head, she brushed past Yong Ha and walked off without looking back. And Yong Ha finally understood what it felt like to die inside.

The ribbon clenched in his fists, he stood rooted to the spot, watching her disappear into the distance.

It was broad daylight, but Yong Ha headed over to the local tavern nonetheless.

Once again, he was drinking alone. He poured himself a glass, downed the contents in a single shot, and allowed a bitter smile to escape his lips. From the looks of things, “happily-ever-after” wasn’t intended for him after all.

Involuntarily, his fingers traced the rim of the cup as he contemplated the day’s events.

He recalled the emotion in Min Jin’s voice as she related her life story to him and the way she had mumbled her thanks for the gift. He remembered his surprise when she started to unpin her brooch. And finally, in his mind, he replayed the disappointment he had seen in her eyes as she repeated his nickname back to him.

Unfortunately for Yong Ha, the cheery atmosphere at the tavern was doing nothing to soothe his ache. He left his payment on the table and stood to leave. With no destination in mind, Yong Ha simply put one foot in front of the other aimlessly. Then stopped.

“Aye, Gu Yong Ha. This is pathetic. You are THE Gu Yong Ha. If you want her, go and get her back!”

o.o0o.o

With a newfound resolve, Yong Ha made a run for the Yoon Residence.

The Gu Yong Ha, whose only idea of exercise was that practiced in bed. The Gu Yong Ha, who hated rushing anywhere. The Gu Yong Ha, whose normal disposition was cool and collected. The Gu Yong Ha ran.

When he finally reached the main gate of the Yoon Residence, he bent over, hands resting on his knees as he fought to catch his breath. Still panting, he haltingly asked one of the passing servants to inform the Young Mistress that he had come.

“I’m sorry, Young Master Gu. Agassi isn’t home yet.”

The color on Yong Ha’s face drained off and he straightened up immediately.

“ What do you mean she isn’t home yet?”

The servant sensed something was amiss, but all the same, refrained from replying more than what he was asked.

“Since Agassi left with you this morning, she hasn’t been back. Nak Ra isn’t back yet either.”

The sun was beginning to set and Min Jin still wasn’t home! It was impossible for the walk home to last four hours!

Yong Ha’s heart started to pound in his ears and he kicked himself for allowing her to walk off on her own.

What happened along the way?

Worry bubbled in Yong Ha. He tried to gather his wits but all he could think of were the thousand and one frightful possibilities why Min Jin wasn’t home yet.

And that’s exactly how she found him when she arrived—pacing up and down with worry. He stopped when he spotted her approach, and the jumble of emotions exploded.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? DON’T YOU KNOW THERE ARE OTHERS WORRYING ABOUT YOU?”

As if in reply to his question, she looked down. He followed suit and regretted his words instantly. Grasped in her hand was the ribbon that he had bought for her, except that it was clean and new. Without thinking, he stepped forward and grabbed her in a hug of relief.

From the back, Nak Ra raised her voice; loyalty towards her mistress had eclipsed the awareness of her own inferior social status.

“Yaa! You crazy bastard. Jugulay-yo?** How can you shout at Agassi like that? For whatever reason I’m too stupid to understand, Agassi regretted throwing her ribbon away! She tried to retrace her steps, but couldn’t find it no matter what. So she went to buy another one. And now you dare to…”

“Nak Ra.” Min Jin hurriedly interrupted her maid’s outburst and pushed herself away from Yong Ha’s embrace. “Go in first. I need to speak to the Young Master alone.”

Nak Ra sucked her breath in at the sudden realization of her words. She hastily bowed and made herself scarce.

o.o0o.o

Neither party knew where to begin. So Yong Ha started by retrieving the original blue ribbon—muddy and tattered, from inside his sleeve. He then proceeded to produce another ribbon…this one made of THE red silk, embroidered with the black flower dropping its petals. Planting both ribbons in her hand, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I’m sorry about the humiliation I put you through at the marketplace. I know you don’t approve of my past, and I don’t expect you to. But regardless, I can’t change what has already happened. I can only promise you this. From now on, you’ll be the only woman I ever look at. I don’t want to have to ever see you walk away again.”

For once, instead of his usual wit, Yong Ha had relied purely on sincerity.

Min Jin remained silent for a while, and to Yong Ha, it was the longest wait he had ever experienced.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and finally spoke.

“That’s the ONLY thing you can promise me? I can easily think of so many more!”

She turned to look at him squarely in the face and started her list.

“One! No more visits to Moran Gak, or any other brothel for that matter!” She jabbed her finger at his chest.

“Two! I don’t care whether you are in the fashion business or not. But after we’re married…no, scratch that. From NOW ON, when dealing with the gisaengs, I MUST be around!” Jab.

“Seriously, you’re way too good-looking for your own good,” she commented under her own breath.

Yong Ha tried to throw in a clever reply to what he had just overheard, but she resumed her list before he could open his mouth.

“Number three! No more winks! Did you think I didn’t see that? I don’t care if the playboy’s old habits die hard!” Jab. Jab. Jab. “You can’t even wink properly anyway, for goodness’ sake.”

“Four! Hand over that awful woman’s petticoat.” She rolled her eyes, and removed her finger from his chest.

Gosh, how he loved this woman.

“Five! Wear this conspicuously. ALL. THE. TIME!” Yong Ha looked down at his hand just as she, in one fluid motion, slid a ring onto his finger.

Yong Ha couldn’t help himself. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he lowered his head such that his nose was only mere inches away from hers. All the wind in Min Jin’s sails died in an instant at the sudden proximity and Yong Ha murmured intimately to her.

“Nega yaksokay.” I promise.

Then tilting his head to the side so his hat wouldn’t be in the way, he pulled her close and kissed her fully and passionately on the lips.

o.o0o.o

“Min Jin ah…”

“Hmmm?”

“Since you dislike the nickname Yeorim, how about you change it to Yeobo instead?” ***

[The End]

Footnote-

* Gomapseumnida: Thank you.

** Jugullay-yo: Do you want to die? By adding the –yo at the end, Nak Ra was saying it in a more ‘polite’ way.

*** Yeobo: Sweetheart/Honey. It is used only between spouses.

o.o0o.o

Author’s note:

OK, I’m guessing a few of you might be wondering…

Just why on earth did Yong Ha wink at the gisaengs?????!!!

To tell you honestly, I myself started swearing at Yong Ha when he pulled that trademark action of his out of the bag.

But thinking about it, it does make sense, really. He’s been a playboy ever since… well, ever since a long time. And if there’s one thing we know about men, it’s that old habits die hard, seriously. I have to keep reminding my boyfriend to put that darn toilet seat down. And flush! Goodness me! Sorry, I’m digressing.

Anyway, another reason I suspect why Yong Ha winked at the other girls was because much as he’s in love with Min Jin, he’s suddenly aware of the magnitude of the step he’s taking. It’s not just a marriage in name anymore. We’re talking about giving his heart totally to her. That wink of his might have been his attempt to hold on a little to his old lifestyle. Not much of an excuse, but ah well, what do I know?

I have to say, though, I’m really glad with how Min Jin turned out. She’s softhearted, yet headstrong at the same time. And she had a heart big enough to forgive Yong Ha for all his past conquests… of course on HER terms. And Girl’s got some huge initiative.

I do believe they’re in for a really really really happy marriage. If there’s anybody who could keep Yong Ha on a leash, it’ll be her.

But at the end, this is just my perspective.

p/s. I usually don’t like ending off with obvious clichés. But after watching the Youtube clip of Song Joong Ki’s kiss, how could I resist? =P