Circus of Longing

Sparks of first love

Joseon

Spring had begun. Wherever you turn your eyes, there were plum blossoms and cherry blossoms blooming. Voices of mothers calling out their children playing outside could be heard in every nook and corner. Two people were sitting at the river bank.

Eun Jeok was teaching Sung Jong to read and write like he did daily and in return Sung Jong told Eun Jeok a story from a distant land of mangoes, beautiful temples and peacocks.

"How do you know so many stories, Sung Jong?" Eun Jeok asked.

"My mother came from a lineage of bards and storytellers."

"Where's she now?"

Sung Jong just smiled looking at the river.

"Do you mind if I go for a walk alone?" Sung Jong asked.

Eun Jeok shook his head and supporting himself on his elbow, stretched himself and started looking at the boats on the river.

The sky was the color of rose now and Sung Jong hadn't returned. Eun Jeok called her names many times. But there was no answer.

Eun Jeok was getting more and more worried with each passing minute. Suddenly the largest fox he had seen leaped inside the bushes. Despite himself, Eun Jeok could not help but feel panicked. Even if it were no Gumiho, the fox was big enough to kill a human.

"Sung Jong," his voice was more urgent now.

"Come on, don't act so coy," he heard Chang Suk's sneering voice. Chang Suk's father was a solemn nobleman, whom the king respected greatly and Chang Suk had been giving the civil exams since five years but Chang Suk's time was spent more in gisaeng houses and soju shops.

"Stay away," Eun Jeok heard Sung Jong's firm voice.

"Acting like a proper lady right now..."

Eun Jeok saw Chang Suk getting slapped by Sung Jong. Chang Suk raised his hand but Eun Jeok stopped him. "Don't you dare touch her," Eun Jeok hissed.

Chang Suk's cheek was bloodied due to the slap and his breath was pungent due to soju. "Do you know what people say," Chang Suk smirked, "Poor Eun Jeok. He's so poor that he couldn't get even a peasant woman and has to be content with the lies of a Gisaeng."

Now it was Eun Jeok who had punched Chang Suk.

As Chang Suk was returning home on his horse, he muttered, "Eeeeessssh...that Gumiho escaped again. But I'll get to you before you kill another human." He ate some leaves he kept in a box and exhaled, "Now I smell like an alcoholic."

He dismounted from his horse in the Gisaeng street and walked with a stagger, "Hey, ladies, that's a nice hairdo you've done." He took out the hairpin and let a Gisaeng's hair lose with an enchanted knife hidden in his robes.

Meanwhile, as Eun Jeok dropped Sung Jong at her home, he asked her, "Sung Jong, what do you do for a living?"

Sung Jong began pulling at the frayed threads of her cuffs, "I help some village ladies in their house work. Are you asking this because of what Chang Suk said?"

Eun Jeok never knew how to lie.

"You trust that lecherous philanderer Chang Suk more than me? Maybe I should just die like my Ahbujji wanted" Sung Jong started crying soundlessly.

"No," Eun Jeok said softly and embraced Sung Jong. Sung Jong held him tightly and said, "The World is so cold outside and your heart is so warm. Never leave me."

"Never," Eun Jeok muttered, his face buried in Sung Jong's hair which were loose now like a waterfall.

Please let me know if the story of present time is going too slow or if there's too much focus on Joseon era.