Chapter 1

One day, Yoona’s cousin had a fantastic story for her.

“Did you know a foreign prince landed on the shores of the kingdom a couple days ago?” said Mina.

“Where is he from?” asked Yoona.

“I heard he came from a distant land to the south in a fleet of a hundred ships,” Mina answered.

Yoona traced the outline of a small boat on the ground with her finger. She had never seen an ocean-going ship because the corner of ancient Korea she called home was a long distance from the waters of the sea that surrounded the Korean peninsula on three sides.

“What else did you hear about this foreign prince?” Yoona asked.

“I heard each ship carried a great many treasures from the prince’s kingdom.”

“But what does this foreign prince want?”

Yoona asked this question in a calm manner but inside she felt a faint fear of the unknown.

Yoona was only sixteen years old but she was already familiar with stories of fierce barbarians from faraway lands invading Korea in the recent past. The mountains and forests that surrounded Yoona’s village seemed to go on forever but beyond them lay unknown dangers.

“Oh, that’s all I know so far. My father just returned from Kaesong where he had some important business. I’m sure he’ll tell me more about this prince after he’s had his rest,” said Mina.

Mina’s father was the governor of the province and was often away taking care of many important things at Kaesong, which was the capital of Korea back in that olden time.

“Well, I have to return home now,” said Yoona as she got up.

“Wait, mother wanted to give you something,” said Mina. “Umma,”Mina cried out as the two girls got up and approached an older woman.

“Aigoo,” the woman exclaimed as she hugged both of the girls. Mina’s mother was Yoona’s aunt from her father’s side, so Yoona called her Gomo.

Gomo had a pale complexion, smooth black hair and eyes that seemed to sparkle. Yoona thought her aunt was the prettiest person she had ever seen.

Sometimes, Yoona’s father would compliment Yoona by telling her, “Ah, but I think you do look a bit like Gomo. She is my baby sister, after all.”

Mina’s mother offered Yoona a cloth sack filled with fruit. “Now Yoona, give these to your father for me. These are Jeju tangerines that Mina’s father brought from his trip to Kaesong.”

Yoona’s eyes grew wide as her aunt pulled out a small orange fruit from the sack and handed it to her to sample. The fruit had a soft yet tough skin and smelled like a sweet flower. The thing looked so orange and so bright in Yoona’s hands it might as well have been a precious gem.

Yoona put the fruit inside her pocket to eat on the way back to her home. She gave one final bow to Gomo and waved goodbye to Mina before she turned around and started down the path to her house with the sack of tangerines in her hand.

Chapter 2

Yoona made her way up a winding path. A big hill stood between her home and Mina’s house. When she was little, Yoona had imagined the hill to be a large mountain. The climb to the top seemed to take up almost the entire part of a morning.

As Yoona grew older the mountain seemed to grow smaller and the climb to the top easier. Today though, Yoona found herself gasping and her heart racing as she made her way to the top of the hill.

Yoona finally reached the top and looked behind her. Down below was the valley she had just left. A green carpet of rice fields surrounded what looked like a walled town.

The walled town was actually Mina’s family home and it was said to be the biggest estate in the entire province.

The estate had many buildings. There was a building to hold rice and a building that held horses and cattle. There was a building that had smoke coming out of its chimney and servants running in and out carrying food.

One of the buildings even had a roof covered with blue clay tiles. It looked a bit like a giant fish with blue scales. Mina’s father often sat inside this tiled-roof building and received important men who came on horseback from all corners of the province to discuss important things.

The farmers of the region also came to the tiled-roof building to settle disputes and matters of the law among themselves. After harvest time the farmers dropped off enough sacks of rice to fill up the entire main courtyard of Mina’s home.

Yoona turned around and looked over the valley that was on the other side of the hill.

The valley was a narrow green crack that opened up between the surrounding hills. Almost every single piece of flat land was taken over by rice fields. The farmers of the valley built their houses near the hills in order to save the best land for the crops.

Somewhere among the thatched-roof and mud-walled houses was Yoona’s home. It was just a little bigger than the other houses. A wall mostly made of dirt surrounded the place. The dirt wall was not as high as the stone wall that protected Mina’s family estate.

Yoona’s father was not an important governor like Mina’s father and owned only a little bit of land. However, the local farmers respected Yoona’s father because he was a wise man who had read many books.

A farmer grew rice on the land Yoona’s father owned. After harvest time, the farmer who had ten children would tell Yoona’s father, “Teacher, the rains this year were so meager and the crows clever and hungry. So the harvest has been quite poor.”

Yoona’s father would stroke his scholar’s beard and say, “Ah, that is the way of things. Seeing I only have myself and my two daughters to feed, I’ll take whatever rice you can spare. After all, those who work the land support everyone else.”

The farmer bowed several times as he thanked Yoona’s father and handed him a sack of rice that weighed less than a newborn baby.

Yoona remembered the Jeju tangerine she had in her pocket. She pulled out the orange ball. It looked like a rare jewel that had fallen from the sky, almost too precious to eat.

Yoona slowly peeled away the soft skin of the fruit. The pulp inside was like that of no other fruit Yoona had known. It was neither smooth nor firm like a pear or an apple but squishy. Yoona bit directly into the soft pulp.

“Aya!” Yoona exclaimed as she almost dropped the tangerine. Her eyes were stinging with the juice of the fruit. The tangerine appeared to have spat back at Yoona for injuring it.

Yoona wiped her eyes and resolved not to get attacked by this strange fruit again. She gingerly peeled away the rest of the skin and managed to tear off a moon-shaped piece of fruit, which she then put into her mouth.

The fruit burst in Yoona’s mouth like nothing she had tasted before, novel in sensation and sweetly delicious.

Yoona wondered if the people of Jeju Island ate this fruit every day. What sort of tree did it grow on? Was it a large tree or a small one? Did it blossom in the springtime and were the flowers as fragrant and brightly colored as the fruit?

Yoona imagined a Jeju Island native running up and down a tree like a squirrel and grabbing handfuls of orange fruit. Perhaps this native even had a big bushy tail like a squirrel.

Back in those days Jeju Island was a semi-mythical place to most Koreans. Barely a generation or two ago Jeju Island had been a kingdom with a king and queen and its own customs. Surrounded by the sea and cut off from the mainland, Jeju Island might as well have been a place of the imagination.

Thinking of far-off places turned Yoona’s thoughts toward the mysterious prince from a foreign land that Mina had mentioned. She wondered if his land was full of fragrant fruit trees. Why did he sail from his kingdom and land in Korea? Was the prince handsome?

Oh, he must be handsome, thought Yoona. But I suppose he already has a princess that loves him, she concluded. By this time Yoona had reached the bottom of the hill and arrived at her father’s house.

Chapter 3

The sliding paper doors of the house were wide open to let in any lazy breezes the summer season stirred up. Yoona’s father was inside sitting on the wood floor, hunched over a small writing desk. In his right hand was a writing brush. Spread out before him was a scroll of rice paper.

Yoona’s father was a scholar who knew many hanja characters. With a few deft movements of his wrist and a writing brush he could fill up a blank scroll with the elegant brushstrokes of Chinese characters.

Many of the local landowning families sent their sons to learn from Yoona’s father. But it was a rather meager living, for Yoona’s father only received a handful of rice in payment for each boy he taught.

Yoona also learned to write a little from her father. Hangul, the native Korean alphabet, hadn’t been invented yet, so the characters Yoona was learning were those of hanja. Hanja came from a distant land called the Middle Kingdom, as China was known back in those days.

Yoona was quite happy when she received her lessons because she did not have to exchange a single grain of rice for them.

Yoona’s father was also the best storyteller she had ever known. Yoona’s father had a colorful story for every hanja character he taught Yoona.

“Now, these brush strokes represent a field, with the farmer taking care of the crops. The four walls surround the field and farmer. And the soldier stands guard over everything,” said Yoona’s father as he wrote the character for ‘guk’ (kingdom).

A certain character would remind Yoona’s father of a legend in Chinese history. Yoona along with her younger sister Yuni sat mesmerized as their father told them stories from long ago.

“Appa, please tell us a story about Korea,” Yoona and her sister often begged their father. Their father’s eyes twinkled as he rolled his sleeves and shifted to a comfortable position. Yoona and her sister then knew a wonderful story was coming. The way the girls fidgeted with excitement, one would have thought they were two little hatchlings.

And what wonderful stories their father told the two girls! While we imagine Korea today as one nation (mostly), three kingdoms had existed on the peninsula shortly before Yoona’s time.

Further back in time, what existed before the Three Kingdoms Era was more than a dozen little kingdoms and fiefs, each with their own ruler, palace and walled fortresses and armies to defend it all.

There was much going on back in those days. Young princes fought with each other for the hand of a beautiful princess, while other mighty princes managed to unite and rule all the lands within their sight. These mighty princes were in turn defeated by even mightier princes.

There was one story that Yoona always asked her father to re-tell, the story of Hwang-ok:

*

Hwang-ok was a princess who lived in a faraway kingdom called Ahoda. One day her father had a dream that she was to marry a prince from a land across the seas.

Shortly afterwards Hwang-ok set forth in a fleet of ships filled with treasures and many servants. After a long journey across the waters, she finally landed in a Korean kingdom called Gaya. Now the kingdom of Gaya is no more but back then . . .

***

“Appa, how long ago was that?” Yoona’s sister would ask at this point in the story. Yoona’s father paused, stroked his beard and looked up, as if he was thinking of a very big number.

“So many years ago that if an acorn was planted back then, it would be a giant tree now,” he replied. Yoona and Yuni sat wide-eyed as this fact settled inside their heads.

Their father continued with the story:

***

The kingdom of Gaya was located in the southeastern part of Korea near a river. The prince of Gaya was named Suro. He had the choice to marry any of the highborn maidens in his kingdom, but he had a vision from heaven his beloved would come from across the sea.

One day Prince Suro was on a hilltop with his courtiers. He looked over the ocean that lay beyond the hill and saw something that made his heart leap. Just over the horizon was the fleet of ships carrying Hwang-ok and her treasures. The winds stirred and the ships drifted close to shore.

Suro sent his courtiers to fetch Hwang-ok after she and her retinue made landfall. However, Hwang-ok was raised to be a proper princess and refused to be carried off by strangers.

Suro’s courtiers pitched a tent and here Hwang-ok waited. After being informed of his future bride’s shyness, a rather impatient Suro mounted his horse and dashed to the tent.

The midday sun was getting hot and Suro’s temper grew shorter the closer he got to the tent. “I could have the hand of any fair maiden in the land and this foreign princess makes me wait for her,” thought Suro.

Suro finally arrived. He dismounted and stormed inside the tent. Out of respect, Suro made a quick bow to Hwang-ok. Then the two cast their eyes on each other for the first time. Despite her upbringing as a proper princess, Hwang-ok let out a soft “Oh!”

At the same time, Suro’s sour mood completely disappeared. It was replaced by an unfamiliar feeling inside Suro. Suro’s heart fluttered like a bird inside a cage. Both Suro and Hwang-ok realized, at that exact moment, each was destined for the other and their love was true.

Soon after, Prince Suro and Princess Hwang-ok married. They eventually raised twelve children together and lived to an old age and all of their many descendants know the story of their enduring love.

*

Yoona had heard the story of Prince Suro and Princess Hwang-ok many times, but each re-telling had the same effect on her and inspired an odd mix of feelings.

Yoona felt a bit of nostalgia for what she imagined to be a more heroic era than the current one. She felt a little sad that Prince Suro and Hwang-ok lived so long ago and were now gone. Finally, Yoona felt a yearning for something but she could not figure out exactly what.

Chapter 4

“Appa, Gomo gave me some Jeju tangerines to bring home,” said Yoona as she stepped inside the sliding doors.

“Unni!” A child’s voice cried out for Yoona.

A little girl that was seven years younger than Yoona dashed inside the room. Her face was flushed, as if she had been running, and her cotton hanbok had splotches of dirt on it. The girl hugged Yoona by the waist and buried her face in Yoona’s chest.

“Yuni-ah, how did you get so dirty?” asked Yoona as she gently pried herself loose from her sister’s grasp.

Yoona brushed the dirt off her sister’s hanbok and re-arranged her hair. The girl looked like a smaller version of Yoona. She had a small round face and lips that seemed to be always pouting.

Ever since her mother passed away from a fever a few years back, Yoona found herself running the day-to-day matters of the household. Every morning she woke up before the sun rose to draw water from the well and she also tended the vegetable garden and fed the chickens that lived in the open space in the middle of the house.

Once a week Yoona took a bundle of dirty laundry to a nearby stream and pounded the clothes with a rock to clean off the dirt. It was hard work but Yoona did not mind because the other mothers and daughters of the village would gather and talk as they washed laundry at the stream.

Sometimes Yoona felt a little shy about going to the stream. Whenever she showed up with a bundle of clothes under her arms, all the mothers exclaimed, “Aigoo, here is Teacher Chang’s daughter. Isn’t she so pretty?” Yoona blushed because she didn’t feel particularly pretty.

Yoona also went into the nearby hills to collect small pieces of wood for the fire. The farmer that tilled Yoona’s family land dropped off larger pieces of wood that were needed in the wintertime.

The farmer would also help dig a hole in the ground for the winter kimchi during the fall season. Back in those days before refrigerators the Koreans stored salted vegetables in big clay pots and buried the pots in the ground to use during the winter months.

Yoona’s biggest challenge though was taking care of her younger sister Yuni, who was always running around like a little mouse and getting into trouble.

*

Just last week Yuni had waded in the pond behind the house and came home covered in mud. She proudly clutched a frog in her hand and offered it to her older sister. Yoona shuddered at the thought of touching the wet little creature, but she took the frog from Yuni and put it in a clay jar.

Yoona proceeded to strip off Yuni’s muddied clothes. As soon as Yoona took the last bit of outer clothing off her sister, Yuni let out a cry of joy and ran out of the house.

“Aya!” exclaimed Yoona as she ran after Yuni.

Yoona chased after her little sister around and around a large tree and then down a dirt path. A village dog joined the chase. Soon, a couple of village children (fully clothed, of course) around Yuni’s age joined the merry band.

Yoona finally caught up with her sister and grabbed her. At that moment Yoona tripped and fell. The two girls tumbled together on the ground in one tangled heap of limbs.

By this time a crowd of villagers had gathered. The other children along with the dog scattered into the crowd.

Yoona tidied herself up as best as she could, gave a deep bow to the crowd and hurried back home with Yuni.

Back then it wasn’t an unusual sight for a little child to be running around almost naked in a small village but Yoona felt terribly embarrassed. She only gently scolded Yuni for the escapade because she loved her little sister very much, though.

When the two sisters came back home, Yoona’s mood brightened because her father was cooking something in the pot. Yoona wondered if it was samgyetang because the day had been so hot.

Even back then, Koreans thought the best thing for a hot summer day was an even hotter pot of samgyetang, or boiled chicken. However, it would have been quite a luxury to have an entire chicken in one person’s bowl. Rather, an entire chicken was shared among the whole family.

It was time to eat. A fragrant smell of ginseng rose up from the bowl of soup in front of Yoona. Slivers of white meat floated on top of the soup broth. It was samgyetang. Both Yoona and her sister tackled their soup with gusto.

“Could you imagine what I found this afternoon? A big frog sitting in one of the pots, as though it was a gift from heaven. It certainly makes a good soup,” said Yoona’s father. He chuckled and continued with his meal.

Yuni paused with a spoon in her hand. Her face contorted into a funny expression and then turned red. Finally the tears came down like a summer downpour as Yuni cried and cried.

Yoona tried to comfort her sister with a hug. Meanwhile their father smiled as if he was amused at the fickle moods of the females in his household and resumed eating his soup.

*

The incident with the frog soup was a week ago. Yoona was reminded of it as she cleaned up Yuni. She turned her attention to her father. He was studiously engaged at his writing table.

“Appa, please try some Jeju tangerines,” said Yoona as she served the colorful fruits in a bowl. Yuni’s eyes grew wide when she saw the exotic fruit.

“Sure, sure,” mumbled Yoona’s father.

Yoona’s father was concentrating on the piece of paper before him. He furrowed his brow, stroked his chin and then dipped his brush in black ink. With a few deft movements of the brush, Yoona’s father wrote a couple hanja characters on the sheet of paper.

“Yoona, this character means ‘virtue’ and this other one means ‘patience,’” Yoona’s father said. “Note how the very strokes of the character suggest these qualities,” he continued.

Yoona nodded, even though she did not really understand what her father was saying. Yoona’s father reached for a rolled-up scroll by his side. He slowly unrolled the yellowed paper and ran his finger down a line of text.

“Look here, Yoona. This is our noble family line. Our direct ancestor was a famous scholar who owned many rice fields. He in turn was descended from a prince of one of the old kingdoms of Korea. But this prince was overthrown by another prince who raised a large army and seized the kingdom.”

The entire time Yuni had been sneaking up to her father’s writing desk on her hands and knees. She was about an arm’s length away from the bowl of tangerines. Suddenly, as if springing an ambush, Yuni grabbed a tangerine. She ran to a corner and started to eat the fruit.

Yoona’s father ignored the fruit theft and sighed as he looked over the family register.

Yoona thought her father seemed to be touched with a sense of sadness about something lost forever. She came over to her father’s side. “Appa, is there anything troubling your mind?” said Yoona as she wiped a bit of dirt off her father’s shoulders.

Yoona’s father took her soft dove-like hands in his own.

“Yoona-ya, one day . . .”

Yoona’s father fingered the worn paper of the family register, filled with the names of long-gone noble ancestors.

“Gomo, she certainly married well, didn’t she?” continued Yoona’s father.

Yoona’s father started to roll up the family register. “Yoona, what will I do with you, my poor pretty eldest daughter?” he said.

Yoona gave her father a warm smile, although she did not understand what he was trying to tell her.

Chapter 5

A couple months had gone by since Yoona’s first taste of a Jeju tangerine. It was near the end of the summer season.

Yoona and Mina were walking in the hills that overlooked Mina’s home. The forest was alive with the sounds of chirping birds and buzzing insects. As the two girls made it over the final crest, Mina’s family estate came into view in the valley below them.

The estate was buzzing with an unusual amount of activity.

Porters carried bundles of firewood past the front gates. Carpenters straddled the rooftops of various buildings making repairs. A sharp thunk thunk of a hammer hitting a nail echoed into the hills. Straw mats holding fruits and vegetables were laid out on the ground in the courtyards.

“I wanted to tell you, Yoona. We’re having visitors in a couple days. They’re coming all the way from Kaesong,” said Mina.

“Kaesong? That’s so far away. I can’t even imagine how long such a journey would take.”

“And my father told me these visitors come from a foreign land,” replied Mina.

Yoona tried hard to imagine a person that wasn’t Korean. What sort of clothes did such a person wear? What foods did they eat? Yoona’s thoughts turned toward the foreign prince that Mina had mentioned before . . .

“Mina-ya!” Gomo was waving to her daughter at the bottom of the hill.

“Yoona, I’ll see you in a couple days. We’re having a banquet to honor the visitors,” said Mina as she made her way down the path to her family home.

*

The day of the banquet had arrived. It was evening and Yoona was hiking with her family up the hillside path that led to Mina’s home. The daylight was fading into twilight. The surrounding trees seemed to cast sinister shadows as the sun dipped into the distant mountains.

Yoona squeezed her father’s hand tighter. However the path was narrow and Yoona had to let go whenever she was in danger of losing her footing. Yoona’s father carried Yuni on his back.

Yuni was whimpering, so Yoona’s father softly sang a song to quiet her. It was a sentimental sort of song about two lovers trying to cross a mountain pass: Just as there are many stars in the clear sky, there are also many dreams in our heart.

For some reason, the song made Yoona feel that aching feeling she had felt before whenever her father told her the story of Hwang-ok. Yoona felt her nose starting to run. Salty tears ran down her cheeks.

“Unni, what’s the matter?” said Yuni. She stopped her own whimpering and patted Yoona on the shoulder.

“It’s nothing. I just got a little something in my eye. Yuni, look ahead. We’re approaching Mina’s place,” said Yoona.

By this time dusk had settled over the land. From the top of the hill it looked as though a thousand fireflies were gathered in one spot, so numerous were the torches and lamps lighting up Mina’s home.

Yoona heard the sounds of laughter and conversation wafting up the valley. She felt cheered by such happy sounds and imagined her sister and father felt the same.

“Wah, it’s really beautiful,” said Yuni as they made their way down the hill.

*

Yoona, along with her father and sister, finally made it to the front gate.

Yoona smelled the food cooking and felt her mouth water with anticipation of the plates of roasted pork, boiled dumplings and other dishes that would be served. The distinct musical tones of a gayageum getting its strings plucked wafted over the walls.

The sounds of numerous conversations seemed to mingle like many streams flowing into one. Yoona thought she heard among the voices a foreign language being spoken as the unfamiliar sounds rose into the night sky like embers in a fire.

Yoona and her family stepped into the main courtyard.

Mina’s home was not one big house as we might imagine it to be. Rather, it was a series of courtyards and gardens separated by inner walls, gates and clusters of small buildings. The courtyards were now filled with visiting noble families who had journeyed from all over the province.

“My elder brother and his two darling blossoms have arrived,” exclaimed Mina’s mother when she spotted Yoona and her family.

Gomo was dressed in a beautiful silk hanbok, with Mina at her side. Her hair was tied into a neat bun and an ornament of precious jade adorned it. Yoona and her sister bowed deeply to their aunt. Mina and her mother returned the gesture to Yoona’s father.

Mina’s mother and Yoona’s father were soon engaged in conversation as the three children stood by their side.

Yoona stared in wonder at the spectacle swirling around them. She had never seen so many strangers gathered together in her entire life. Servants ran around with food and jars of rice wine. Members of extended families were gathered on verandas catching up on news and gossip. Torches flickered and illuminated the scene.

At that moment Yoona saw something that caught her undivided attention.

A group of people dressed in unfamiliar-looking clothing passed by. At first glance they looked somewhat similar to Koreans, perhaps a bit slighter in stature. The newcomers seemed quite foreign in their gestures and bodily movements, though.

What captivated Yoona the most about the foreigners was their speech. It all sounded to Yoona like a babble of rising and falling tones and odd vowel sounds. Yoona had no idea what was being said but she thought the speech of the foreigners was rather pleasant to the ears.

A Korean man approached the foreigners. After exchanging greetings, the foreigners started speaking to the man in Korean. Yoona by this time felt she was under a spell, so great was her astonishment.

Yoona could understand the Korean the foreigners were speaking, although it was voiced with a strange accent. Yoona remembered Mina telling her the foreigners had spend some time in Kaesong before coming to the valley.

As politely as she could, Yoona continued to observe the people from a foreign land.

A household servant approached with a tray of food. “Children, go off and eat some dinner,” said Mina’s mother.

Yoona had no choice but to follow the servant with her sister and Mina. She turned around and took in one last glance at the foreigners before she entered a dining room.

*

A knee-high table laid out with dishes was in the middle of the room. A group of children was already seated on the floor and eating. Yoona along with her sister and Mina found an empty spot and sat down.

Yoona marveled at the wonderful variety of Korean foods before her. She was used to a diet of mostly rice and even that was often scarce at her father’s house. Spread before her was a range of cooked vegetables, noodles and dumplings.

Another servant came along with an unfamiliar dish that was just recently introduced to Korea: bulgogi.

The idea of eating meat in itself was a luxury, but here was an entirely new and exotic dish. The children stared at the thin slices of beef piled on a plate.

Yoona thought the cooked meat gave off a smell that was stronger than chicken but it wasn’t unpleasant and made her mouth water. The plate of meat sat untouched as all the children sat looking at it.

The sliding doors of the room opened again.

A Korean boy about the same age as Yoona and Mina stood in the entrance with his hands on his hips and surveyed the scene with his tiny squinting eyes. The boy appeared to be well-fed, with a thick neck, double chin and an enormous belly. A shiny new sword that had hurt no man hung by his side.

Big Choi, as the boy was called, took off his sword and thrust it at a servant that accompanied him. The old man took the sword, gave Big Choi a deep bow and disappeared back outside.

Big Choi made his way to where Yoona was sitting. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly with every step he took. Although Yoona and Mina were sitting next to each other, Big Choi found an opening between the two girls. Without any apologies, Big Choi pushed the girls apart and plopped himself down.

Big Choi grabbed an empty plate and started to grab handfuls of the bulgogi with his hands. He then proceeded to stuff the meat into his mouth. Between mouthfuls of the food, he offered an origin story for bulgogi.

“This is the way the northern barbarians eat it. We Koreans use cows only for plowing fields, but the northern barbarians eat the meat of the cow as a delicacy. They kill the cow and cut the meat into thin strips and cook it over an open fire.”

Big Choi paused and drained a cup of tea. He continued, “These northern barbarians spend most of their life on the back of a horse. They start riding one before even learning to walk.”

“And how would you know, you haven’t been to the north,” said a small child.

“Be quiet in the presence of your elders, insolent brat! I know because my father heard it himself from the King of Korea, who recently sent an army to battle them,” said Big Choi. Big Choi was always reminding everyone he was related to the King of Korea through his mother who was the second cousin of the king’s third wife.

“An army? Are they trying to invade Korea?” asked Mina.

“Perhaps. The Korean army defeated them because it was just a small force that was sent to spy on our northern defenses. These barbarians have no books or learning but can fight like wolves. They can shoot an arrow backwards while riding a horse at full gallop,” said Big Choi as he made a motion to turn his torso around and shoot an invisible bow and arrow.

All the children gasped.

“If they dare to invade our province, I will personally slaughter a hundred of them,” said Big Choi as he curled the fat fingers of one hand into a fist. The other hand was stuffing more food into his mouth.

The sliding doors opened again and a servant came in with a fresh plate of bulgogi. Everyone followed Big Choi’s example and started to eat the new foreign food.

Yoona managed to get a small piece of meat about the size of her finger. She thought the taste was agreeable and wished she could have more but Big Choi had taken the biggest share.

*

Yoona and Mina were sitting outside the dining room on a wooden veranda that wrapped itself around the building. Big Choi was seated in the middle and holding a jar of rice wine in his lap.

The three were resting from the meal they had just eaten. The evening had turned into night and the torches flickered into the darkness. The adults in the courtyard were all laughing and drinking heartily.

Big Choi told Yoona and Mina about his father’s plan to expand the family estate. He boasted when the estate was finished it would be twice the size of Mina’s family estate and have many buildings.

“Next spring we’re going to have fifty craftsmen and workers over to start construction,” said Big Choi as he made a sweeping gesture with his arm.

In the corner of the courtyard was a small group of the foreigners Yoona had seen earlier.

“Those are the Dai Viet people,” said Big Choi.

“Where are they from? My father told me a little bit about them,” said Mina.

“My father personally knows the King of Korea and met the foreigners when they first arrived in Korea. I know everything about them,” said Big Choi.

“They come from a land that lies far south to us. The sun is so hot down there that rocks melt. Their land receives more rain in one day than we receive in a year. The trees grow fruits as big as a house. In fact, the people of this land live inside the old shells of such a fruit,” continued Big Choi.

Both Yoona and Mina looked at Big Choi in wonder. Finally Mina spoke up. “That’s not true, I never heard of a fruit as big as a house.”

Big Choi drank a mouthful of the rice wine. “Their world is full of strange things such as little men who spend their whole lives in trees.”

Both Yoona and Mina who had never seen a monkey laughed at such a notion.

Big Choi laughed and took another drink of the wine. “One of the little men is staying in the king’s palace. My father met him. The little man refused to talk to my father and instead jumped all over the rafters of the palace roof. Finally the Prince of Dai Viet called to the little man and he came back down.”

“The Prince of Dai Viet?” asked Yoona, feeling her pulse quicken a little. “Is he here tonight?”

“No, he is with his household staff and retainers at Kaesong,” said Big Choi.

Yoona felt it all seemed like a big mystery, these foreigners that came from a faraway land.

“Oh, my father! I need to go see him,” said Mina. She gave a slight bow to Big Choi and Yoona and hurried off.

Yoona and Big Choi were sitting together alone.

Big Choi moved closer to Yoona. Yoona felt the warmth rising from Big Choi’s body, as if he was a giant stone that had been placed in a fire for a while. Little beads of sweat appeared on Big Choi’s glistening white forehead. Big Choi took another drink of the rice wine.

“Yoona, as you already know, my family is going to expand our estate next year. And I’ve been thinking, I should be getting married soon, perhaps in a year or two. Many girls in the province want to marry me, but I’ve been looking at one girl that I’ve known for many years.”

“Hyejin?” said Yoona, thinking of a quite pretty girl whose father was a local landowner.

“No, it’s someone you know quite well.”

“Mina?”

“No, you. I think I’ll take you as my bride, Yoona.” Big Choi set aside the jar of rice wine and made a move as if to kiss Yoona. By this time he was rather drunk and ended up spitting out a mouthful of rice wine on Yoona’s hanbok instead of kissing her.

Yoona fell back on her side. “Why, that’s something I hadn’t been thinking about. I’m only sixteen after all,” said Yoona as she tried to wipe her hanbok dry.

Big Choi’s face turned red, as if he was mad. “Yoona, the only thing your family has is your father’s name. My family is one of the richest in the entire province.”

Yoona felt her cheeks turn warm. “That is the rudest thing I’ve heard in a long time,” she cried.

Big Choi made a gesture to grab Yoona. He lost his balance and collapsed face down on the wood planks of the veranda. Big Choi lay motionless.

“Big Choi, are you okay?” asked Yoona.

A loud snoring sound started to rise up from Big Choi.

“Aya,” said Yoona as she pushed Big Choi into a more comfortable position. She straightened her clothing and went to look for her father and sister.

Chapter 6

Several days had passed since the night of the feast at Mina’s place. When Yoona told her father about Big Choi’s proposal to her followed by the spewing of rice wine, Yoona’s father stroked his chin and said, “Well, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me. You and Big Choi.”

“Appa!” protested Yoona and she decided to forget the whole matter.

Today, Yoona and Mina were on the hilltop looking over Mina’s family estate. Down below, a group of people were assembled with their horses and baggage. The foreign visitors were leaving.

Some of the visitors were staying behind, Mina told Yoona. The King of Korea had asked several of the noble families in the area to shelter the visitors over the winter.

“So they’re making Korea their new home for now?” said Yoona.

Mina nodded. Yoona wondered what would make someone leave the only home they had ever known.

The two girls compared each other’s harvest for the afternoon. They often went up to the hills to look for ginseng roots and other plants. Yoona’s wicker basket was filled with berries and a couple roots. Yoona and Mina said goodbye to each other and made their way back to their respective homes.

As Yoona walked along the path back to her home, she felt carefree and happy in her heart. The rice harvest was going to be good this year, she had heard from the conversation of adults.

The rice fields in the valley below were a golden color. Soon in a couple weeks the farmers would bring in this year’s crops. The summer heat hung in the air but autumn was just around the corner.

Yoona rounded a corner and started walking down the hill. She was on her way home.

*

Yoona found herself approaching the front gate of her house and realized there was a visitor when she saw a horse tied up to a tree near the front gate. Yoona was scared of horses and felt alarmed when she saw the beast was between her and the front gate. She made a wide circle around the horse but it trotted up to her.

Yoona thought the animal looked even more gigantic up close. She felt the horse was staring at her with his big brown eyes. Yoona tried to squeeze past the animal but the horse was now examining her basket.

The horse inserted its dark brown snout into the wicker basket and made snorting sounds. The animal smelled of hay, sweat and dirt.

The horse finally retreated, chewing on something he had snatched from the basket. “Oh,” said Yoona to herself as she looked inside the basket and found one of the ginseng roots missing. She quickened her steps and finally made it past the front gates.

*

Yoona’s home did not have many courtyards and buildings like Mina’s estate. If a bird was to fly directly overhead, the creature would see just one horizontal rectangle with two vertical rectangles hanging from the sides.

The bird who had passed over many rich homes would think there was scarcely any food to be snatched from such a small place. But he would be tempted to steal a piece of straw from the thatched roof for his nest.

The doors of the main room were closed. Yoona’s father often sat inside this room, writing. Yoona heard the muffled sounds of conversation coming through the doors. She tiptoed through the courtyard and up to the main room.

When she came up to the veranda, Yoona slipped off her straw sandals and crawled like a baby along the wooden platform. She inched her way, stopping every time the wood started to creak.

Yoona finally reached the sliding doors. The doors were wood-framed and covered with rice paper. Yoona found a small hole in the paper and peeked into the room.

Her father was talking to a young man, Yoona guessed after hearing the sound of the visitor’s voice. The young man spoke Korean with the same foreign accent Yoona had heard at Mina’s place several days ago.

The hole in the paper was quite small, so Yoona could only see the arms and hands of the young man. The young man’s hands seemed nicely shaped.

“Unni, what are you doing?” Yuni’s voice called out behind Yoona. Yoona was so startled by Yuni that she jumped and fell against the edge of the sliding door. The door popped open and Yoona tumbled into the room.

Yoona felt so embarrassed she rolled herself into a ball after she fell through the door. She went on her knees and gave a deep bow, her forehead touching the floor. Yoona remained in this position until her father spoke up.

“Yoona, perhaps you can prepare us some tea?” asked Yoona’s father.

“Yes, appa,” said Yoona as she got up. She kept her head down as she exited the room. Yoona ran across the courtyard and into the kitchen.

*

The kitchen of the house was a dirt-floored room with a fire pit. Jars of rice and other food were stacked against the wall. Yuni watched her sister as she prepared the tea.

“Unni, who is that man? Are you marrying him?” asked Yuni.

“No, no. He’s just a visitor,” Yoona answered as she blew into the embers of the fire. A small kettle of water and some tea leaves sat nearby.

“Unni, you turned so red when you saw him.”

The embers glowed and grew hot. Eventually a small flame flared up. Yoona placed the kettle over the fire.

“Oh, I didn’t see him. Everything happened so fast and I was so embarrassed.” Yoona did see the foreigner’s face, just briefly. She thought if she closed her eyes, she could recall certain features: a long face, broad nose, a full head of dark, wavy hair.

All in all, Yoona thought she had the impression the visitor was rather handsome.

As the water warmed up, Yoona crushed some tea leaves with a small stone and clay bowl. Soon the water started to steam and bubble. Yoona wondered if falling in love was like brewing tea. Warm embers turning into a hot fire.

“And my dear prince, here is a cup of tea to warm your heart,” said Yoona to herself as she stirred the leaves into the water.

“Unni, you’re strange.”

“Yuni, I forgot you were there. I was busy making the tea.”

“Unni, I think you like him.”

“No, no,” Yoona protested.

The tea was finally ready.

“Yuni, do I look okay?” asked Yoona as she picked up a tray with the pot of tea and two cups. Yuni reached over to her sister. She tidied up her hair and straightened her hanbok as Yoona kneeled.

“Yuni, thank you so much,” said Yoona. She got up and stepped out of the kitchen with the tea.

*

Yoona walked across the courtyard. She approached the main room where her father was meeting the foreign visitor. With slow and deliberate motions, Yoona sat the tray down, opened the sliding doors, picked up the tray again and stepped inside. It was a much more dignified entrance than the previous one.

Once inside, Yoona sat the tray down and closed the sliding doors. She picked up the tray and approached her father and the visitor. The only sound was the swish swish of Yoona’s hanbok as she moved with measured steps. Yoona fixed her gaze on the tray, keeping her head down.

Yoona set the tea cups down on the table, one for her father and one for the visitor. She stirred the tea in the pot. A cloud of warm steam rose up.

Yoona poured the tea into each cup with a swirling motion that resulted in a gentle sloshing sound, as though a miniature brook was flowing inside the tea cups. After Yoona poured the tea, she stood kneeling in front of the two men.

“Prince Lee, this is my eldest daughter Yoona.”