Part 12

Bows and Arrows

Yoonhee and Sunjoon lead the Bicheondang with their bows and arrows. There is almost no one there except a few sooboks. She remembers how she had to fight against the crowd to arrive at this place to take the exam. At that time, she couldn't even imagine being a student in this place. But one thing has not changed. After all this time, she still has to pretend to be a man in front of Sunjoon.

Sunjoon carefully ties his sleeves and gets up on the platform. Yoonhee observes him from the back. Maybe it's because his body is stretched out, but he looks surprisingly big today. Her face turns red when she remembers his body since this morning. Unwittingly, she begins to imagine seeing his nude body again. She admonishes herself for being a perver, but her memory of what she saw refuses to leave. Sunjoon, without knowing that he is naked in the eyes of Yoonhee, shoots his arrow from his bow. It lands right in the center, in the bullseye, as if he had been practicing for hours. He grabs another arrow and shoots.

After having shot ten arrows, Sunjoon cleans the sweat off his face. Yoonhee, who all this time has been thinking that firing an arrow with a bow should be fun, tries one herself, but when she stretches the bow, she realizes why Sunjoon was sweating. You really need a lot more than normal strength for this, which is expected from a man, so in her case she has to try even harder. Sunjoon notices how she's using all her strength, he approaches her from behind and holds her with both his arms.

"Don't be greedy. Just stretch the bow with the normal strength that you have."

Yoonhee suddenly loses all her strength, not because of the tension of the bow, but because his body is touching hers and her temperature is rising. Sunjoon puts his hands on her shoulders and says:

"You can't shoot the arrow simply by stretching the bow."

"Then?"

He pushes my body with his body, chest and stomach, pushing firmly.

"To be a great archer, you must know your body. You need to get in the proper position, and you must control your mind and your breathing. If you don't start by doing this, you won't be able to shoot any arrows.

"Yoonhee was about to go crazy with each one of his touches, but now one of his legs slid between hers. Her whole body went rigid when Sunjoon's leg pushed her legs apart.

"You must spread your legs like this."

He places her waist in a straight line, and he places his head next to hers, with his cheeks touching hers. He adjusts her head so that she faces the target.

As to the target, now is the opportunity for your eyes to rest after reading so many books up close, but the most important thing is that you open you eyes and look clearly.

He stops. He notices Yoonhee's smell; it is different from the smell of a man. He can't understand it. He tries to avoid this strange sensation and he grabs Yoonhee's wrist so that she can aim towards the target with the bow. His fingers stretch out towards the arrow.

"Try not to shoot with your wrist, but rather with your stomach, breast and arm." Sunjoon says, as his hand approaches her chest.

"Try to think that you are filling your lungs with air" he says, and while he speaks, his hand touches Yoonhee's chest. Surprised, Yoonhee removes his hand.

"If you have already shot the arrow, hold your breath and send the arrow to the bullseye." 

Yoonhee tries to concentrate on what he has said. He steps back to watch her. He closes his fist tightly and then opens it again. He looks at the palm of his hand thinking of the body he has just touched. It's much softer than that of any normal man. Not just his chest, also his armss, stomach, back, shoulders...a strange tingling sensation runs up and down his neck, and he can't understand this new sensation. He shivers and closes both his fists. He reaches the conclusion that Yoonhee's body is soft because "he" still hasn't matured due to his illness.

Yoonhee's first arrow falls to the ground. She had always thought archery was a minor sport, but it's a lot more difficult than she expected. Yoonhee decides that she will try for at least one arrow to hit the target, so the lifts the bow again.

"Don't shoot thinking only of reaching the target." says Sunjoon. Yoonhee lowers the bow and looks at him.

"I'm only trying to shoot the arrow calmly and strongly. If I shoot greedily, I'll only make you mad and get you frustrated" she adds, a bit ashamed.

"I think that broadening my mind is a bit difficult, or else, the task is too easy for me."

Suddenly she hears: "Tsk, tsk. You are hopeless. Generally, most people try to get at least one in the bullseye."

Yoonhee was alerted by the voice of Jaeshin. He looked at her up and down.

"Why are you looking at me that way?"

"I heard about your yangmul (which means "treasure", "thing"..."penis"). It's very big."

"What?"

Yoonhee's face pales, as if she'd seen a ghost. Big penis? She doesn't even have one! She looks at Sunjoon and laughed in complicity

"What do you mean by "big"? What are you trying to say?" asks Sunjoon.

"It's because of Chosun's undergarments."

Yoonhee's head begins to spin, because she suddenly realizes what they, and the rest of the students, must have thought when she brought back Chosun's undergarment. She's about to clarify that it's not what they think, but she decides that it's best this way because it confirms her "masculinity". When Sunjoon walks towards the target to remove the arrows, Yoonhee takes advantage of the rumor by telling Jaeshin:

"Ha, ha, in spite of my slight appearance, I am very masculine...where it can't be seen!"

Jaeshin responds while he plays with the arrows: "Then tonight let me take a look at it."

Yoonhee is surprised by his rudeness, and shakes her head no. She puts her hands on her waist and lifts her chin saying: "I'd do it only if you were a woman. I won't let anyone else see it, except a beautiful woman like Chosun. I can't show my treasure to just anyone!"

Surprised, Jaeshin looks hard at Yoonhee. The small kid looks so innocent, but seeing him in this light makes him look even prettier. Jaeshin brings up the bow and prepares to shot an arrow which is directed not at the bullseye, but at Sunjoon.

"W...what are you doing?"

She yells to Sunjoon. The arrow misses him by a few inches and impales itself on the ground. After seeing that Sunjoon is fine, she goes to Jaeshin and throws the arrows at him.

"Are you crazy? How can you shoot an arrow at a person?"  Without a single change in his expression, Jaeshin answers:

"Now is the only chance to be free of a future puppet for the Norons."

"What? Don't you think your jokes are going too far?"

"Don't worry. Do you think I'm so crazy that I'd this in full view? I'd rather do it secretly so no one will know."

"You're crazy! Your nickname fits you perfectly!"

If I don't kill him now, he'll surely die by your hands. Aren't you a Nam-in?"

Yoonhee is furious. There's no need to remind her that he's aware of all their social positions. Jaeshin brought his face near to hers, and whispered:

"Why are you studying here?"

"What difference does that make?"

Jaeshin answers: "Although many students say otherwise, they are all only here for one reason. To obtain a government position. If you want any filthy government job, this is the place to train for it."

"If you are so anxious for one of those jobs, then you should study!" says Yoonhee.

"If you think the only way to solve things now is by killing one another, shouldn't you study, so you can make a difference?"

"Study? Don't be studpid. The few available jobs are all occupied by Norons, without leaving room for anyone else. His Majesty is not too confident in the Norons right now, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be stopped.

Yoonhee is about to explode in anger. Sunjoon after removing the last of the arrow, sees that Jaeshin takes Yoonhee's chin in his hand and moves her face close to him.

"You should be happy that you've discovered that I'm crazy. But you, you are a real surprise. At first, you looked like a girl, following Garang everywhere...but you have more balls than the rest of the students. What I said yesterday, that I don't discriminate between men and women (meaning: for sex) was a lie. But starting like now, because of you, it could become the truth!

Suddenly Sunjoon runs towards them full of anger. He grabs Jaeshin's wrist and removes his hand from Yoonhee's chin. He returns to his courteous ways and greets Jaeshin. "Have you had breakfast?"

Sunjoon is not aware that he's putting more and more pressure on Jaeshin's wrist. Only Jaeshin ca feel the pressure of his hand. He tries to act unaffected and responds calmly:

"Yeorim always has food in his room. I just ate there."

"Geol-roh sahyung, it's not proper to shoot an arrow when there's a person near the target. It doesn't matter how good an archer you are.

Jaeshin imagines that's the reason why Sunjoon is holding on so tightly to his wrist. He tries to walk away, but unsuccessfully. Sunjoon is stronger than he thought. He's remembering how Sunjoon fought the seonjupkuns that night. "This guy must be much more than just a bookworm." thinks Jaeshin.

"Are you trying to start a fight? Why don't you let me go?" Sunjoon realizes he's still holding Jaeshin's arm, and let's go.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"Classes will start soon, so go get ready. I'll shoot a few more arrows."

When Sunjoon and Yoonhee turn around to leave, Jaeshin turns his back to them and grimaces at the pain. There's a red mark on his wrist where Sunjoon held him.

Yoonhee realizes that Sunjoon is still angry, and says: "He really is crazy. How can he be a scholar?"

"I think he's a good person" says Sunjoon.

"He almost shot you!"

"I got too near the target."

"Whatever you say."

Sunjoon continues: "He's one of the best archers. I wasn't his target. If he had actually aimed at me, he would have killed me. If he had really shot at me, he would have killed me."

"How do you know he's such a great archer?" He could have missed.

"I can feel it. The arrow arrived exactly where it was aimed. And all of his other arrows hit the bullseye.