The preparation of the Lantern festival was in full swing. The market was full of hustle-bustle, brimming with the colourful and beautiful lanterns to allure the visitors. Vendors had decorated their shops to attract customers. Kids could be seen indulging themselves in gruelling arguments with their parents and crying stubbornly to buy them their favourite toys and lanterns. Other throngs of people were busy buying new clothes for their family.
There was one ordinary shop among the crowd of wacky shops, but surprisingly it was full of customers because there the lanterns were inconceivably designed with different textures. That ordinary shop attracted Min-ho. He decided to buy a lantern for Si-ri from that shop which was surrounded by a huge crowd.
Min-ho didn't know that unknowingly he was also grabbing the attention of girls. Min-ho was tall and he was handsome as well. He seemed extremely busy choosing the most beautiful lantern unaware of his surroundings.
“Why don’t you take this one, this one is so colourful,” said a girl while shyly glancing at him but to her surprise he didn't even pay heed to her suggestion which disappointed her.
Min-ho being unaffected by the beauties proceeded to other shop after getting the lantern of his choice.
Other youngsters were envious of Min-ho for the attention he was receiving from the girls.
Just then, Ji-ho and his notorious friends reckoned in the market. With their filthy behaviour they all make fun of people for their ordinary or shabby attire. It is their favourite pastime to mock and torment the people of the town. Nobody could utter a single word against them, as their fathers were top officials of the kingdom who served the King.
As they moved forward, a poor kid bumped into Ji-ho as he was frolicking around and fell on the ground. The moment he was about to get up, Ji-ho and his wicked friends surrounded the poor child. “You poor filthy creature, how dare you touch me?” said Ji-ho with a disgusted look.
“It was just a mistake. I am sorry for this,” said the crying child.
“I shall teach you a lesson today so that you won't repeat this mistake ever,” said Ji-ho, flaunting his evil smile.
Looking at his shoes Ji-ho said, “Clean it with your clothes.”
The poor child could not escape himself from this fateful encounter with these lousy people. With a gloomy face, the innocent child crimped his shirt and started to polish Ji-ho’s shoes.
After he was done cleaning shoes, Ji-ho pushed him and said, “You did well kid, it seems you poor people know beforehand that your place is under our feet.”
Ji-ho suddenly saw Min-ho at the lanterns stall. He was fuming with jealousy on seeing all the girls admiring him. Then he recalled how his mom scolded him for losing the bet to an ordinary man. Therefore, he decided to take revenge on him.
He walked to the stall with his friends.
“My dear friend, leave it and come with me, I'll show you how to have fun,” Ji-ho forced Min-ho to come.
“No, I don't want to go.” But all his words fell on deaf ears. Ji-ho forcibly takes him and signals his other friends to join him in his plan.
Ji-ho took him to the pothouse and kept on coercing Min-ho to drink wine.
“I do not want to drink this, Ji-ho. You enjoy it here, I have to go.” Min-ho politely refused his offer.
“You filthy dirty pig, how dare you deny my offer. You are in no position to refuse me.” Ji-ho grabbed Min-ho by his collar and ruthlessly started to force wine into his mouth. Min-ho choked and it became severely difficult for him to breathe. Amidst all these scuffling, Min-ho managed to kick him hard in the crotch.
Ji-ho jolted with the sharp pangs that a piercing and shrill groan escaped his mouth. He lay down in pain by placing his hands between his legs and cursing Min-ho.
“You bastard, you will pay for this.” Ji-ho shouted.
Before he could shoot more cuss words, Min-ho rushed towards him and banged his head on the table so hard that he fell unconscious. “Never ever try to mess with me”.
By that time, Ji-ho’s friends abscond the place.
Min-ho yawningly stretched his fingers and said, “With a little act of giving agony to this rogue guy, I am finally feeling liberated,” and moved towards the market.
“It's a pain not being in a good condition and tormented by people, but no matter what condition we are in, we always have the power to heal our lives. Even if you lack all the grandeur and prosperity of life, even if you are penniless you still have the power of your mind and courage that indeed helps you avoid humiliations, scars, that feeling of helplessness, as well as those moments when even warriors questions the existence of God and empowers us to survive despite walking through hell.” Min-ho pondered about the miseries of life and walked towards his home after buying a lantern for him.
He reached home and got back to bed to take a short nap.
When it was getting dark outside Min-ho prepared himself to go to Si-ri.
“Even if she can't see the festival still she can be a part of the festival,” said Min-ho in thoughts.
Avoiding the eyes of the people Min-ho proceeded towards the forest.
On his way, Min-ho was dubious on the account of Si-ri whether she would like his surprise or not. All he wanted was to ease her pain, to make her happy or to lessen the agony of lonliness atleast to some extent. He knew the feeling of being alone since he had gone through such ugliest phases of life. Time is a healer, it gradually healed Min-ho and made him come out of the trauma of childhood. However, he was still lonely with no one to rely on. Reason for his attachment towards Si-ri could be the similar pain they both shared.
Far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, Si-ri was gladly weaving clothes for winter. Out of the blue she noticed some light from the corner of her eyes and rushed towards her window for clarity. She became a little frightened and suspicious, worried there could be thepresence of a human being but it was something else. “Oh! It’s a lantern, it seems people have started to celebrate the festival,” said Si-ri and closed the window to stop herself from admiring the sky full of lanterns. In this way, she would clog herself from the strong desire to go and see the world, happy faces of people, celebration, colours, crowd and everything. “If only, father would have been here, I would not feel this lonely. It's been a long time since I haven't seen you father, please come back soon. I am missing you
Min-ho was thinking about Si-ri’s advice. He screeched to halt in a nearby tea shop for a while. After some time he noticed the damnatory gazes of people around him. Some of them were so startled with his presence that they started to leave the shop. Min-ho couldn’t help but scoff at himself. “Some people are scared of me because of my arrogant demeanour and others look down on me scornfully because of my work and idleness. What kind of life am I living?” “I never got affected by these people but on the contrary I never wanted to see disgust and fear in their eyes for me but this is what I have earned in all these years, I only realised it now when someone poked me. It’s like I have been lost and stuck in a wasteland where there was direction where I could run but not sure in which direction, lots of faces
Lord Yong and his disciples finally reached Noam. Lord Yong was happy that finally, he had the book to save Si-ri but at the same time he was agitated with the remedy that leads to break the curse. Lord Yong and the others placed the book in the shrine located at Lord Yong's house. Lord Yong opened the book and started looking for the antidote to break the curse. He continued to turn page after page with a menacing taste of what's to come. The front page of the book was dark and coarse, the pages had turned yellowish. Spells and amendments were written on each page of the book. The pages of the book are said to be made of vellum of animals. Sentenced to death for breaking his monastic vows, the monk offered a proposal to the King that he would create a book with the world's knowledge in return for his life. The King accepted the propo
As the sky turned dark and an inky black sky appeared, the furrows between his brows grew deeper, as he sat with anxiety written all over Lord Yong's face.Lord Yong had decided to disclose the complete truth to Si-ri before it was too late. He bought some gifts for Si-ri and stepped towards the dense forest with a torch.Standing in front of the mansion Lord Yong knocks on the door. Si-ri rushed towards the door, sensing it must be her father and hastily opened the door. Si-ri was grinning from ear to ear and hugged her father."I missed you a lot, didn't you miss me?" asked Si-ri, making a puppy face."Do you really think your father could forget you? I missed you so much and prayed for your well-being," Lord Yong cupped her face an
"A few months later, as predicted by the girl, the Queen gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. In fear for her children and of the throne becoming heirless again, the Queen asked the shaman for a solution. The wicked shaman convinced the Queen to sacrifice the princess for the well-being of the prince and for the future of the Kingdom of Noam. The King hearing this furiously declined, refusing to sacrifice his daughter. But going against the King's decision the Queen handed the Princess over to Mi-sook for her to be sacrificed. Mi-sook transferred the Prince's curse also over to the Princess and told the Queen that the girl had to be burnt for the ritual to be complete. The Queen summoned me for this heinous act as it could only be done through pious spells. I assured them that I killed the Princess and the Queen ordered me to leave the Palace forever."Lord Yong slowly turned
Sleep eluded Si-ri's eyes last night. She spent night by spinning here and there on the bed sometimes and staring at the darkness other times. Maybe, she was looking for the answers that no one could answer. However, she had complete faith in her father and she was certain that everything will be alright soon. Even after knowing Lord Yong was not her biological father, Si-ri's love for him didn't flutter even a bit. Her immense love for Lord Yong was intact. On the other hand, she was feeling pity for her own father who had to hand over his new born to someone. Still she decided to not go to the palace after breaking of her curse. She would rather live with the man who adored her like her own daughter than to be with someone who she barely knows. Early in the morning, Si-ri stood on her balcony filling her eyes with the soothing sight of the rising sun. She still had many unanswered questions and th
Moving forward in the dense forest, they came across the tree titled as the Treeof Empyrean.It was the same as mentioned in the book. Standing in the middle of the forest, illuminated in silver rays of the moon, it was covered with beautiful blue flowers with a hint of purple in them. The tree was not as tall as others of the forest; it was average in size but there was something truly majestic about it, it was a feast for the eyes. Bathing in the angelic moonlight the scene felt like it was from a fairy-tale. All of them were in awe of its beauty. Lord Yong, Si-ri and Nyang stood there for a moment astonished by the charm of the Treeof Empyrean. "My child! The commencement of breaking the curse begins with this tree. You should take your first step to break the curse," said Lord Yong to Si-ri, brea
Lord Yong and Nyang walked through the streets and noticed the decorations that were being put up. The streets were dancing in a variety of colours with smiles plastered on almost everyone's faces. It looked like the preparations for a grand celebration. Nyang asked one of the people about the decorations, then they got to know that the preparations were for the Prince's marriage. In the Palace Queen Iseul walked around the palace instructing everyone, from the maids to the cooks, she wanted everything to be perfect for her son's big day. Her face was glowing from joy as she made sure everything was to the Prince's liking. She couldn't wait to see her son getting wed, it was a dream come true. Her smile hadn't faded even for a moment through it all.