The morning was peaceful and quiet as Young Min sat at the table in his room, studying very scholarly things, and looking quite studious with his calligraphy brush in hand.  The book before him carefully outlined the Confucian Ethics, and he was in the middle of transcribing the Four Virtues to a separate page when there was a knock from the hallway.

“Enter,” Young Min called, setting the brush down and looking up to greet his visitor.

The door opened with a clatter and one of the male servants rushed in, bowing respectfully.

“What is it, Won Soo?” Young Min asked.

“Young master, there are rumors going around that you visited Lotus House last night!” Won Soo answered, voice trembling with barely-suppressed rage.  “How dare they say such things!  You would never do something so immoral!”

Frowning, Young Min stood up.  “Where did you hear this from?” he asked.

“I was going to the market to get some fresh vegetables, and a servant to the Gong family was talking about it to one of the vendors.  He says Gong Il Woo himself saw you leaving there this morning!  It’s nothing but a lie!  Why would he say that?”

At the mention of the Gong family, Young Min gave a sigh, finally understanding.  “No doubt Gong Il Woo is enacting his revenge on me for standing up to him the other day,” he explained.

Won Soo gave a horrified gasp.  “How could he dare to do such a thing?  Don’t worry, young master, there is no proof, and this respectable family holds more power than his.  There’s no way he could possibly succeed in ruining your reputation like this!”  The servant was practically shaking in outrage at the injustice.

Lips pressed into a firm line, Young Min slowly shook his head.  “There is always a way.  Because you are very loyal to my family, you forget that there are others who would be more easily persuaded with money.”

“You mean bribery?” Won Soo asked nervously.  He fidgeted, not liking where this conversation was headed.

“Yes.  In this case, if Il Woo thought things through carefully, he would have paid off at least two people—a gisaeng, to claim I was with her last night, and a servant of about my height, to don nobleman’s clothes and leave Lotus House in the direction of this estate.  If the servant hid his face well, anyone watching would have thought it was me, and Il Woo would have others’ testimonies to support this vicious rumor.”

“So we just have to find these two people and make them confess?” Won Soo said hopefully.

“It will not be easy,” Young Min warned.  “There may be others in on this plan who we do not yet know about.  For now, we must start with finding those two—the gisaeng and the servant.”

“But if you send someone to Lotus House, or even go there yourself, it would be as if you were confirming the rumor!” Won Soo objected.

“I am going to speak with Il Woo,” Young Min said.  “You will go to one of the rival gisaeng establishments to gather any information from the women there.  There must be someone who saw something.”

Won Soo bowed again and turned to leave, but Young Min had one more thing to say.

“Won Soo—tell the others that if anyone comes to visit, I am busy and not to be disturbed by any means.”  If anyone came to inquire about the rumor and found him missing, it might raise suspicion in Il Woo’s favor.

“Yes, young master.”  The door closed behind the faithful servant, and Young Min spun to pick up his hat and tie it firmly over his topknot.

Young Min made sure no one saw him leave, sticking to the shadows until he was on the main road.  Even there, he dipped the brim of his hat to hide his face when others passed.  No more than ten minutes later, he was standing in front of the gate to General Gong’s house.

“I’m sorry, but none of the family is home at the moment,” one of the servants said after Young Min had requested to meet with Il Woo.

“Is that so?” he replied.  At his raised eyebrow, the woman shrank under his gaze.

“Y-yes.”

“Then it will not be a problem if I wait for Il Woo to return?” he said.

“Uh…it might take a very long time—”

“Thank you.  I’ll wait.”  Young Min glanced up the path to the main house as a movement at one of the windows caught his eye.  He had a sneaking suspicion that Il Woo had told the servants to pretend he wasn’t at home, but there was really nothing else he could do besides wait for the other scholar to finally show himself.

As he stood in the courtyard under the shade of a large tree, Young Min casually observed any servants that passed by, paying close attention to any similar to his own build.  Yet as the minutes wore on and no suitable matches came up, a horrible suspicion began to grow in the back of Young Min’s mind—after all, Il Woo was also close to his height, which meant he might not even have needed to bribe a servant to act as a decoy when he could have had the satisfaction of doing it himself.  If that was the case, it would be much more difficult to get a confession that the rumor was false.

If Young Min had been less well-bred, he might have sworn at this realization, but his years as a scholar had taught him that his time would be better spent by staying calm and thinking through the situation.  If it truly had been Il Woo, then just the gisaeng’s confession would have to be enough.  Hopefully Won Soo would be able to discover who it was that Il Woo had bribed.

It was just beginning to near lunchtime when the female servant from before hurried over to Young Min’s rapidly-shrinking patch of shade beneath the tree in the courtyard.

“Il Woo has just returned and will receive you in his study,” she told him, only briefly meeting his eyes before scurrying away.  Young Min had to scoff at the boldfaced lie, as no one from the Gong family had come in or out of the front gate the entire time he had been standing by it.  Nonetheless, he followed after the servant, who showed him to the room and then disappeared, leaving Young Min to face a gloating Il Woo.

“Please, sit down,” Il Woo said, his manner completely different from that of yesterday’s now that he had the upper hand.  Not only was his temper in check, but his robes were glossy and unwrinkled, and his hair was pulled up neatly into the topknot that represented the nobility.  Yesterday he had been disheveled and irate, yet now he was composed and calm.

Not wishing to seem too obliging, Young Min didn’t immediately follow Il Woo’s suggestion.  Instead, he cast his gaze languidly about the room as if the plain papered walls were quite fascinating, before finally taking a seat.

Il Woo waited to make eye contact before giving a smug smile.  “How kind of you to visit,” he said.  “Normally, I would engage in the usual pleasantries, but it seems something is troubling you.  Please, lighten your burden and share your grief with your good friend.”

Young Min gave a slow, unamused blink at the yangban sitting across from him.  “It does not become you to play the fool, Gong Il Woo,” he said.  “You and I both know very well that you have been spreading a vicious rumor about me, and I have come here to tell you that unless in fact you truly are a fool, it would be wise to rescind your lies before they go any further.”

Il Woo simply leaned back with a smirk.  “What’s to stop me?” he countered.  “I’m so sick of you and your self-righteousness.  Do you know, all those times you’ve plagued me, I’ve been dreaming of a way to get you back, and now I finally have my chance.  Your father is busy playing minister to the king in Hanyang, so it’ll be hard to hide behind him this time.  When he finally gets word of the disgrace you’ve brought to your family, it will be too late for him to do anything.  Don’t worry though—I’m sure the gisaeng would appreciate you taking her in as your mistress to save face.”

“How much did you bribe her?”

“Bribe who?”

“The gisaeng.  To say she slept with me.”

Il Woo laughed, and Young Min’s brow furrowed at the enjoyment he seemed to take from the question.  “If you think your money can sway her to your side, you’re sorely mistaken.  I made it very clear that were she to have any indecision on the matter, her life would be forfeit.  Try finding a bigger bargaining chip than that!”

The tension in Young Min’s jaw was the only indication that the statement had bothered him, and Il Woo, far too busy laughing, failed to notice it.

“I wonder what poor Oh Jimin will say, to find out she has fallen in love with such a disrespectable individual!  If she’s smart, she’ll cut ties with you immediately.”  Il Woo tutted in mock sympathy.  “And you two looked such the perfect couple.  Shame.”

“Jimin is no fool,” Young Min said.  “She will check her facts before she jumps to any conclusions.”

Il Woo leaned forward with a wicked glint in his eye.  “You’ve severely underestimated me,” he said.  “I hold all the cards in this game.”

Young Min decided he had had quite enough at this point, and rose to leave without another word.

“Have a good day!” Il Woo called after him with poorly-concealed glee.  Young Min ignored him, quickly slipping into his shoes once back outside and striding towards the front gate.

Instead of heading back to his home, however, Young Min headed towards the marketplace, sticking to the shadows to draw as little attention as possible, but still moving at a fast pace through the streets.  Finally, the third street over, he found who he was looking for and shot out a hand to yank Won Soo back behind the partial privacy of a bamboo screen wall.

Won Soo immediately let out a cry of protest, but quieted when he saw who it was who had grabbed him.

“Young master!” the servant loudly exclaimed.

Young Min put a finger to his lips for silence, and Won Soo’s eyes went wide with understanding as he nodded furiously.

“I’ve decided to let it go, Won Soo,” Young Min said in a much lower tone.  “Don’t search for the gisaeng anymore.”

“Let it go?” Won Soo repeated, astonished.  “But how can you stand to be shamed with something like this?  And what will your father say!”

“Il Woo holds the upper hand in this instance,” Young Min explained, glancing around to check that no one was listening nearby.  “He’s threatened the gisaeng with her life, and I believe if I were to try and persuade her, he would have her killed in secret just to ensure that the lie isn’t exposed.  Someone’s life isn’t worth a little dishonor on my part.  I’ll manage.”

“But, but…” Won Soo sputtered in protest.

“Like a child, Il Woo will blame anyone but himself for his wrongdoings, and wishes to get back at me for his humiliation in the marketplace yesterday.  I suppose I should be thankful it isn’t something more serious.  Yangban visiting gibangs isn’t unheard of—I’ll just have to work harder to prove myself, that’s all.”

“You would suffer your reputation just to save the life of a good-for-nothing gisaeng?” Won Soo said.  “Young master, I mean no disrespect, but please take care yourself and don’t worry so much about others.  It may bring you to even worse harm in the future, and I couldn’t bear to see that happen.”

Young Min gave a smile.  “I will take that into consideration.  Thank you for looking out for me, Won Soo.”

The servant straightened up and jutted out his chin.  “Well, it’s my job!”  Then he deflated a little.  “But…what do you think Lady Jimin will say?”

 Young Min’s smile fell.  “I can only hope for a chance to explain myself to her, and that she will understand.”

=======================================================

Unlike the self-righteous Park Young Min, I have no tolerance for such childishness, I’ll have you know.  If I had confronted that Il Woo, I would have clawed his face off.  Unfortunately, you humans aren’t as gifted when it comes to natural defenses—a mouthful of dull teeth and some weak little nails are all you have.  Such a shame.  Instead, you compensate with knives and swords—although nowadays I suppose it’s more like guns and bombs.

So, what must you do to stay on my good side?  Well, let me finish my story, for one.  And never, ever, use your status and wealth as an excuse for your actions.  Own up if you’ve made a mistake, and don’t blame others for it.

 Don’t be Gong Il Woo.

A/N: Thank you 18gooda for all your support! :)