If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 9

It was already the sixth day since Yirok had come to Nanjubeol. At 4 PM, it was time for the haenangs’ main duty, martial arts training, but Yirok had yet to complete the official procedures. He was told that he would only receive his apprentice haenang status after meeting and paying his respects to Chaehwa’s grandmother, the master of the ‘Yeongwa Mang-ul’ training grounds. But as it happened, the master had been busy for the past few days, and he received notice that a private meeting could not be arranged.

Somehow, the class held at 10 AM became Yirok’s only schedule, but today, no alarm clock rang in Yirok’s bedroom. Yirok, who had certainly set his alarm before falling asleep while reading late into the night, woke up at 10:30 AM. His lateness confirmed, he threw on an un-ironed shirt and ran to the study hall. He arrived out of breath, and only after entering the hallway did he notice his bare feet, having forgotten his socks.

Teacher Myeongil, who was copying a poem onto the chalkboard, was the first to spot the latecomer. The white chalk, which had been moving slowly, stopped, and the gazes of the seven students in class turned to him. It was too late to blame his roommate, who had left alone without opening the curtains.

“Come in and sit down. Starting tomorrow, be sure to be on time. That’s the foundation of becoming an official haenang.”

As if it were a waste to use class time for nagging, Teacher Myeongil pointed to an empty seat. In the moment Yirok was about to bow his head, he realized the truth of the matter. Chaehwa’s little red tongue, sticking out as she giggled, seemed to confess that she was the one who had turned off the alarm.

“What are you standing there gawking for? Hurry and come in.”

Even Shinwoo, who greeted him with a nod every day, bowed his head as if following the crowd. The other haenangs also buried their noses in their books, as if they didn’t want to get involved. The bundle of books Yirok was holding slipped down his arms.

“Alright. Let’s turn to the next page.”

After composing his breathing, Yirok walked toward the desks, which were all in cahoots, without a moment’s hesitation. The haenangs were craning their necks so far it was a wonder they didn’t get a herniated disc. As soon as he sat down, Yirok opened his book and looked forward. Chaehwa, who was cupping her chin with her hands, flicked her tongue at him.

I wish Sarira knew the true nature of the Young Lady Chaehwa she praises so much. If he told her that his arm was rotting away because of a childish brat, she would probably fall ill in bed, so wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone for him? To be sure, his body was suffering, but of all the young lady’s bizarre true colors, this was the best so far. She had to at least prank him like this so that he would feel less sorry later on, right?

“I’ll give you three minutes. Let’s try to solve application problem number 4 on our own.”

As Teacher Myeongil put down the shortened piece of chalk, the students’ hands got busy. While they all clicked their pens and tackled the problem, only Chaehwa and Yirok were engaged in a different battle.

The one who started the unwinnable fight was, of course, Chaehwa. Yirok simply felt a beoseon-clad foot approaching under the desk and pulled his own left foot back. Her plan must have been to kick his leg, which had run through the snowy fields, with all her might. Chaehwa stretched her leg out so hard that her upper body leaned forward, but when her foot met nothing, she tried to return to her original posture.

And seeing his chance, Yirok quickly pressed down on Chaehwa’s retreating beoseon-clad foot and used it as a footrest. He hadn’t even put half his weight on it, but Chaehwa’s mouth fell open like a baby bird’s. She had overlooked the fact that Yirok’s long legs gave him an advantage in a foot-fight.

“Ah!”

The young lady’s scream, who had never expected to be on the receiving end, made Yirok’s mood brighten. Teacher Myeongil, who had been walking toward the window with his hands behind his back, turned around in surprise, but Chaehwa’s gaze was fixed on only one person.

“Get your foot off me, now!”

“What foot?”

“The one on top of my foot! You’ll give me athlete’s foot!”

“Just solve the problem.”

“Get it off! Putting your dirty bare foot on me!”

“I’m cold. I was worried I’d get frostbite.”

He kept her soft beoseon-clad foot pressed down with his own so it couldn’t escape. Furious, Chaehwa leaned over and stuck her head under the desk. It wasn’t an unexpected development, so Yirok pulled his foot back at that moment.

“That guy, seriously!”

“Young Lady… it’s problematic if you make such loud noises during class.”

Chaehwa, who had used the three minutes given to solve the problem on bickering and foot-fighting, was a terrible delinquent student. The look on Teacher Myeongil’s face when he saw the young lady’s book was a sight to behold. Chaehwa, with stray hairs sticking up, was about to say something but changed her target because of Yirok’s smirking face.

“Teacher Myeongil. Why aren’t you scolding him?”

“Well, he, on the other hand, is solving the problem, Young Lady.”

While the delinquent student young lady was barking up the wrong tree, his left hand had perfectly solved application problem number 4. In front of Chaehwa, whose cheeks were red as if all the blood had rushed to her head, Yirok shrugged his shoulders. He could only be grateful to Teacher Myeongil, who was at least fair when it came to class-related matters.

“You think I can’t solve this? I’m not solving it. On purpose.”

Even those who had taken the young lady’s side, as if they were family sharing the same meals, hid their faces in their books, seemingly out of second-hand embarrassment. Even after the given three minutes were up, the only one who hadn’t solved the problem was Chaehwa. Yirok, who had taken his hands off his book, leisurely fastened the last button he hadn’t had time to fix while running out. Chaehwa, whose eyes had been busy darting between Yirok’s book and her own as if comparing them, pressed the top of her pen firmly with her thumb.

“I can solve it.”

“…Alright, then let’s move on to the next concept. This one is easier than what we just learned.”

Thanks to Teacher Myeongil’s timely intervention, Yirok was able to immerse himself in the class without any trouble. Though the probing gazes and clicking pen sounds during every break kept interrupting his flow. The things listed earlier were not even problems compared to his turbulent life.

Yirok could not miss this opportunity for learning, which had come after eight years.

🌹₊ ⊹

The wind pushed harshly against his back, and the unmelted snow on the path was slippery. The snow piled on the dozens of black-tiled roofs was blown by the wind, scattering like flour.

While the other haenangs were training, Yirok went to the guest room alone, looking for a place to review his math. The day before yesterday, he had met Granny Yomyung and received permission to use a small guest room as his study room until 8 PM.

Having finally arrived, Yirok was brushing the snow off his shoulders and taking off his shoes. Chwaaaah, a sound like ringing filled his ears for a moment as ice-cold water fell on his head. Needless to say, the bundle of books he had been holding so dearly in his arms was also soaked. The not-so-kind wind of Nanjubeol blew over the shirt that was clinging to his body. A sharp headache flared, as if he had bitten into a handful of ice.

“Haha!”

No matter how much he deserved divine punishment, there was no way water would fall from the sky. And just then, a silk skirt that had climbed onto the tiled roof fluttered in the flow of the wind.

“You scoundrel, Yirok!”

Without wiping the water dripping from below his chin, he looked up at the roof. The green silk skirt didn’t run away but slid down the roof as if it were a slide and jumped down lightly.

The woman landed like a luscious flower, but those were things that hardly registered in Yirok’s eyes. More importantly, the new shirt he had ironed this morning and the book with his notes were now ruined. The sunlight reflecting off the white snow shot into his eyes, but he didn’t even so much as blink. One person flicked the snow off her hands annoyingly. The other stood on the snow, soaking wet. In the winter, where white breath hung in the air, the two, never tiring of it, began another staring contest, the number of which they had lost count.

“Didn’t I tell you to be nice to me?”

Chaehwa stood with her chest puffed out triumphantly and laughed.

“Chaehwa… aren’t you even training?”

Perhaps because he was doused with cold water in winter, his dull mind cleared up instantly. As this was not the reaction she had expected, Chaehwa’s smile hardened. Yirok approached the unbridled young lady in a somewhat threatening manner.

“You don’t study. You don’t train. Are you really Nanjubeol’s Chaehwa?”

Yirok’s shadow, having just arrived, covered her entire body, but Chaehwa knew no fear.

“Outsider. You don’t know the first thing about me, but let me tell you. I’m special.”

Meeting the young lady he would have to kill with his own hands had increased his sighs. He wouldn’t mind if the young lady, having seen the future, was dousing him with cold water and turning off his alarm out of a desire for revenge. If not, he wished she would at least leave his after-school free time to him. His life was becoming more and more like a barren mountain range with not a single blade of grass. This was probably the only time he could focus on math problems like an ordinary high school student with a set school schedule. There was no way the silk flower, sent down by a heaven that couldn’t stand even that brief moment, would look pretty in Yirok’s eyes.

“That thing you do, sighing in front of people, stop it. And promise me right here. That you’ll drop that crooked attitude and get along with me, and with the others.”

“Chaehwa.”

“Right… tha-, what? Chaehwa?”

“Wait here for just a moment.”

As if worried Chaehwa might run away, Yirok firmly gripped her delicate shoulders. Deceived by his gentle tone, Chaehwa, unable to tell dung from bean paste, nodded her head. Only after getting her promise did Yirok turn around, leaving Chaehwa behind, and run off quickly.

Like an unexpected drenching of water, unexpected kindness makes a person dazed. Left alone, Chaehwa caressed her shoulder where the water had left a mark. A strong, stinging afterglow was seeping through her skin.

“Yirok?”

But is there any hope for a soldier who has forgotten they are in the middle of a battle? The afterglow’s business came to an early end because of Yirok, who was walking across the white snow carrying a bucket.

“You’re now… Ack!”

Without giving the surprised Chaehwa any time to prepare, a deluge of water was poured over her. The force of the water was so strong that the ties of the outer coat that Yeonrye had tied for her in the morning came undone. Chaehwa, who protected her face by splashing water on it, couldn’t even muster a scream and only shivered, her lips trembling.

“Chaehwa.”

Yirok approached with a gentler face than before he had poured the water. He tossed the empty bucket onto the snowy field and grabbed the trembling Chaehwa’s shoulders.

“Stop bothering me. Seriously… Chaehwa.”

“You, you think you’ll sleep with both feet stretched out after doing this?”

“I see you’re going to have Shinwoo or Seonwoo or whatever his name is fold my legs for me now. Fine, do whatever you want. It’s all fine. Just don’t bother me.”

Having finished his warning, Yirok flung her shoulders away and picked up the bundle he had dropped on the ground. The wind Yirok stirred up as he brushed past her made Chaehwa feel a chill for the first time in her life. When she clenched her fists and followed him with her eyes, his shadow had already disappeared behind the guest room.

Outside the training grounds, it was still summer. The two of them were in a perfect state to catch a summer cold, the kind that even dogs don’t get.