The final exam.
Yoonhee sits at the
testing site, unable to rid herself of her nervousness. She breathes in and
out. She doesn't think she can even write properly, because her hands are
shaking so much. She looks at Sunjoon sitting next to her. His face seems as
though it's aged, because he's studied so much that it was almost as though it
took the life out of him. But thanks to him, she could focus on her studies
just as much. Jaeshin studied hard for the first time since his entrance to
Sungkyunkwan, and Yongha, who didn't have anyone to play with, studied
alongside them too.
But Sunjoon's been
strange. He's closed his eyes, sitting properly, as he's always done, but his
hands are shaking. He's never been like this for other exams. He's never shown
any sort of nervousness before, and she doesn't understand why he's so afraid
this time. She's also a little angry, because even now, he won't even say a
word to her.
Yoonhee looks at Yongha,
who sits behind Sunjoon. She grins when she sees his fancy outfit; he's
obviously using every trick in the book to try and pass. There's a rumor that
if he wears the inner clothes of a student who's successfully graduated he will
meet the same fate and pass, too. Yoonhee is laughing because she knows that
inside those fancy clothes is someone's old inner clothes. Jaeshin, who's
sitting behind Yoonhee, gives her a light kick.
"You must not be
worried, seeing as how you're smiling like that."
"Ah, it's not
that..."
Yongha glances at
Yoonhee and smiles, aware that she is smiling because of his secret. Even with
his smile, it's obvious how nervous he is. Jaeshin too. Yoonhee looks at
Sunjoon one last time, but Sunjoon does not even glance at her.
The testing starts, and
the three start writing.
The four return to
Sungkyunkwan after they're done, but Sunjoon, without a word, heads to
Bicheondang with his books to study for the second testing. It seems as though
nothing matters to him, except this exam. Yoonhee, Jaeshin, and Yongha all look
at him, worried.
"I think he is
really under a spell or something. He can't possibly be like this unless he’s
possessed by a ghost. How can he be so hard on himself?"
"Yeah, there's only
the Jeon-shi left... Why is he studying so hard?"
Yoonhee starts packing
her books to follow Sunjoon, but Jaeshin stops her.
"Why are you going
too? The Hwe-shi just ended! We can rest today, at least!"
"I can't leave
Garang Hyungnim alone--"
"Just forget about
him! He's already a lost cause."
"Don't kid around
like that."
She gets up, but Jaeshin
pulls her down by her wrist and throws the blanket on top of her. He yells at
Yongha, "Go and bring Garang back! I'm going to force Daemul to
sleep."
"How will you put
him to sleep like that? He'll suffocate first."
"Now!"
"How will I bring
him back? He's so stubborn."
"Just do
something!"
Yoonhee tries to get out
of the blanket. "Let me go! I'm going to study!"
"Shut up and stay
here! I've been too nice lately. You should listen to your Sahyung!"
Yongha leaves, and
Yoonhee calms down. Jaeshin rests his head on the lump of body under the
blanket, and says calmly, "I've seen a lot of students go just as crazy
before an exam. I understand that it's good to graduate to start a career. It's
commendable to study hard, but doing it today is a bit much. He's out of his
mind."
After a moment of
silence, Jaeshin speaks again. "Garang is probably going to graduate this
time around. What are you going to do then?”
Yoonhee doesn't say
anything. Even if Sunjoon graduates, even if Sunjoon, Yongha, and Jaeshin
graduate, or even if she graduates along with them, she can't escape the
farewells she'll have to face. She's been trying to run away from this thought
for so long. She wonders if Sunjoon is thinking that way too. Is that why he
hasn't even tried to look at her? Yoonhee, buried under her blanket, doesn't
know that Sunjoon is outside the room, listening to the conversation. She
swallows up the tears that come up. She feels as though her insides will
explode of sadness.
[Soon after is the
Jeon-shi. Everyone looks beat up and tired because of the nonstop studying, and
Sunjoon still seems surprisingly shaken at the exam site, but the four finish
the testing in without falling ill. The results are to be announced later by
the King. Announced will be 3 Gap-Gwa (The three top tests, the first/best tier
of the examinees), 11 Eul-Gwa (the 11 next best tests, 2nd tier), and 23
Byung-Gwa, (the 23 tests after that, 3rd tier), a total of the 37 of the best
tests (its basically picking the smartest 37 people out of the country).
Before the results, all
the students are given their day off. Yoonhee returns home and dresses as a
woman again, and she gets a visitor. It's a woman who claims to be a merchant.
When Yoonhee tries to tell her nicely that she has no money to buy anything,
the woman tells her that it's okay, and that she just wants to have a
conversation with her. Yoonhee thinks it's strange how elegant and
well-mannered this merchant is, and takes interest in what she has to say.
The woman seems very
interested in Yoonhee and engages her in a story. She tells Yoonhee about how
when she was younger, she took the name of her brother and tried to test for
school, but failed. Yoonhee is glad to find someone like her and tells her that
it's unfortunate that she failed, but the woman laughs, saying that she was
lying. How could a woman even take a test? The woman gives a comb to Yoonhee as
a present and goes on her way, leaving Yoonhee dumbfounded. The woman, when she
comes a good distance away from Yoonhee's house, gets into a carriage waiting
for her, and directs her servants to take her back to Bookchon. (That is where
Sunjoon lives, if that's any hint to who this woman_is.)
It's not clear if she is
a woman from Hyo Eun’s household (the noblewoman who wanted to get engaged to
Sunjoon) because she wanted to confirm what she suspected as to why Sunjoon
rejected the engagement, or maybe it was a woman from Sunjoon’s household, sent
by his mother?)
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