Moon's Whisper, Heart's Echo

49. The Beginning

Spring crept into Hanyang like a shy lover, painting the world in subtle shades of renewal. The gisaeng house rushed with its usual morning preparations.

Her youngest gisaeng, Mi-Joo, nearly dropped her gayageum when she spotted him first.

"Young Master Park..." The whisper spread like ripples in still water.

Tae-young strode through the courtyard as if it were any other morning, seemingly oblivious to the effect his presence had on the household. His hair, longer now, caught the morning light in ways that had several girls forgetting their practiced composure.

Madam Jin sat before her mirror, carefully applying rouge when the first exclamations drifted up from the courtyard.

She didn't need to look to know what had caused the commotion. These days, only one man could silence her girls mid-song.

"Young Master Park," she heard the maids murmur, their voices carrying that particular breathless quality that made her smile despite herself. "So early..."

Through her window, she caught his reflection in the courtyard below - tall and striking in his scholar's robes, his hair longer than when she'd last seen him. The morning light caught the ink-black strands, now falling past his shoulders in a way that had her youngest girls practically tripping over themselves to catch his attention.

"Your hair has grown," she observed as he entered her receiving room, not bothering to turn from her mirror.

Tae-young scoffed softly, already focused on spreading documents across her low table. "Has it?"

"Though your manners haven't improved - not even a proper greeting?"

His only response was the soft rustle of papers being laid out on her low table.

"To think," she continued, watching his reflection, "there was a time when scholars at least pretended to appreciate our arts." She turned finally, taking in his focused expression. "Still. Nandi's kindness must be rubbing off on you. You seem softer somehow."

His only response was to continue arranging papers with methodical precision.

"The documents need your review," he said, ignoring her observation entirely.

"Girls," Madam Jin called sharply to her hovering performers. "Surely you have better things to do than gawk?"

They scattered reluctantly, though not before casting lingering glances at their visitor. Tae-young paid them no mind, his attention fixed on his work.

"Here," he said finally, pushing a carefully bound packet toward her. "Your share of the compensation for your help with the merchant guilds."

"My, aren't we efficient today?" She accepted it with practiced grace, though her eyes held something sharper. "Does this mean I can count on your protection should certain questions arise?"

"It means you can afford to buy your own."

A laugh escaped her, genuine this time. "How cold! And after all our years of... acquaintance."

"My, my." She tucked the packet into her sleeve. "So devoted to her already. Not even a crack in that armor of yours."

He continued organizing his papers, his movements unhurried. "Was there something else you needed, Madam Jin?"

She laughed, the sound holding genuine amusement. "You truly are hopeless. I've seen ministers' sons, princes even, falter at a single glance from my girls. Yet here you sit, unmoved as a mountain."

"The papers need your seal," he said, ignoring her observation entirely.

"At least your uncle pretended to be charmed by us." But she reached for her seal anyway, unable to completely hide her smile. "Though I suppose that's the difference between diplomatic courtesy and true love."