Seoul-Strings (Haitus)

Chapter 6

Yu-Jin immediately blushed and turned away. Of course he was here. She calmed herself internally. She definitely recognized him but did he recognize her? That was what went through her mind each time she caught herself glancing at him.

"Attention!" Shouted two older men who were entering the courtyard. They wore the robes of scholars and walked with authority. A young man behind them also wore a scholars robe but in a different color.

Yu-Jin watched as all the young men stood single file. They seemed to scramble into place. "Oh lord." She whispered. She was supposed to be doing that too. Yu-Jin jumped up from her seat and rushed to an empty place in the line that she guessed was for her. She squared her shoulders and tried to look as manly as possible. It was a bit difficult to do when she realized that she stood next to the handsome stranger. Internally she screamed but outside she kept her face still as a statue.

The two older men then began handing out masks to each of them. They were made from black fabric that was sewn to fit around the mouth and nose. She was handed her own and quickly put it on. Although it wasn't much, it did make her feel more confident in her lie since most of her face was covered.

Once all the masks were handed out, the young man came forward. "Welcome." The man said. "From this moment onwards, no one can know your identity."

Well that was idiotic. Yu-Jin looked at those around her and almost laughed out loud. She could still recognize each and every one of them. If anyone couldn't do the same, she would assume they were dropped on the head as babies. Apparently she wasn't alone in her thoughts because she heard a chuckle from besides her.

The man continued. "My name is Jeong Yak-Yong but you may call me Dasan during this training period. I will be responsible for training you and choosing those who will move on to be used as personal bodyguards for the king." He stopped and looked at Yu-Jin. She put her trembling hands behind her. Just as it seemed like he was staring for to long, someone interrupted.

"You?" A boy from further down the line sneered. "You're our trainer? You can't be older than me!"

Dasan looked away from Yu-Jin. She took a shaky breath. He walked over to the man and looked him up and down.

"You're dismissed." He said plainly although he did look like it pained him to say so.

The boy looked at him in confusion. "Why?"

"There is no place here for men who disrespect their superiors."

That was all Dasan said and he motioned for one of the two older men to escort the boy away. When the boy had gone, Dasan cleared his throat and continued. "Out of the hundred of you here today, fifty will move on to more rigorous training while the rest will be sent home. Out of the fifty who stay, eventually they will be reduced to twenty. I want to remind everyone that if you purposely try to get sent home, your punishment will be much greater than the disappointment your family will feel." Dasan then ordered the two older men to bring in equipment. "Each of you will be placed with a partner. You will have a sparing match—which I assume you've all done before—and the winner will move on."

Yu-Jin was given a stick about a meter long and told to stand and wait for her turn. They had a total of six men fighting at a time. They were split into pairs of two and given ten minutes to prevail over each other. She honestly had no interest in fighting. She was bored out of her mind before she realized that she would have to fight with someone. Suddenly she took much more notice of what was going on. She focused on how the men went about trying to beat their opponents. She saw a pattern. Those who were losing were the ones that struck early and exerted themselves more than necessary. She took note of this. Each match lasted less than ten minutes but by the time Yu-Jin's name was called it must've been near noon. She was completely unprepared. She had never fought anyone in her entire life. Unlike some people who could master a skill while trying it for the first time, she doubted she had that ability.