U-ri walked out of the bookstore, immediately noticing the large, angry crowd that had gathered a few feet away. Instinctively, he chose another street to avoid the escalating tension, unaware he was avoiding Kexin's chaos.
Abrafo, however, ran blindly through street after unfamiliar street. His panicked, desperate dash eventually led him back to the main market, where he finally spotted Yul. From a distance, he saw Yul surrounded by women, successfully selling the last of their wares.
Abrafo gasped, clutching his sides. "How many you have left to sell?"
"Five," Yul replied calmly.
Abrafo was genuinely shocked. "Really? I personally thought your face was like a stone, and you wouldn't be able to sell any hairpin."
Yul gave a subtle smile. "Hajime taught me what to say to women to get them to buy the hairpins."
"Oh... that's good." Abrafo suddenly remembered the reason for his frantic run. "Oh crap, I totally forgot! Guess who I just saw?"
Yul sighed, counting his earnings. "How should I know?" He accepted the silver leaves from the women and thanked them.
Abrafo exhaled heavily, the words tumbling out. "I just saw Kexin!"
Yul looked at him, unimpressed. "You are running from her?"
"Yes! I went to that house for free food, but it happened to be her house. It's her father's birthday!" Abrafo began hastily packing their meager belongings. "You don't know—she's asking a lot of questions about you. We now need to leave!"
"Abrafo," Yul said, his voice level.
"Why are you still standing there? Come on, let's pack up and leave now!"
Yul remained utterly calm. "Abrafo, we did nothing to offend Lady Kexin and her brother. There's no need to hide from them. I don't even understand why you ran away from Lady Kexin in the first place."
Abrafo stopped his frenzied packing, turning to face Yul. "Hey, you're right. Why would I run away from her? I never did anything to hurt her in the first place." He sat down, sheepish, holding up the three bags of food. "I think I panicked when I heard her talking loudly. I've never met anyone as annoying as her. Anyway, I got us a free dinner."
"What's inside?" Yul asked.
"Rice, chicken, and roasted yams," Abrafo said proudly, then glanced at the near-empty table. "Hey, you sold pretty well! Maybe you should change your major from being the lead palace captain to being a salesman."
Yul collected the remaining hairpins. "If I hadn't been standing here selling these hairpins, relying on you and U-ri, we probably wouldn't have sold them by now."
Abrafo felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Tomorrow... I promise to sell some hairpins. It's your turn to go and have a look; maybe you can find something you like."
"There's no need," Yul said simply. "Even if I find something I like, I can't afford it."
Abrafo looked around. "Um... where is U-ri?"
"U-ri went to check out some bookstores."
"Now I understand why U-ri volunteered to sell these hairpins," Abrafo said, rolling his eyes. "The reason he came here was for his own greed. Ouch!" He clapped a hand to his head as U-ri, returning unnoticed, knocked him soundly.
"You came here for the same reason," U-ri said dryly.
U-ri looked at the table, surprised to see only three hairpins left. He smiled genuinely at Yul. "I didn't know you had such amazing people skills."
Yul handed the money to U-ri. "Last night, Hajime taught me what to say to customers to make them want to buy hairpins."
U-ri chuckled. "Ha... Hajime always brings surprises to us." He looked at the shrinking market crowd. "I find that people don't usually come out to the market at night," he sighed. "Oh... I miss Cloyotto, the city that never sleeps... even at three in the morning, the streets are busy."
"Me too, but Cloyotto isn't the only city in Tangzang," Yul said, putting the money away. "There are other cities also facing dire situations."
Abrafo stood up, energized. "This is why we are here and not in Cloyotto! We want every city in Tangzang to be like Cloyotto!"
U-ri began packing their things. "Let's start packing up. Let's buy something for Hajime and Michio. They must be hungry."
"No need to buy anything," Abrafo boasted, hefting the bags. "I just got us free rice, boiled chicken, and roasted yams!"
"Where did you get these?" U-ri asked, immediately suspicious.
"Long story short, I got it from Kexin."
"Lady Kexin?" U-ri looked alarmed.
"Yes, it would be best if we could avoid her."
Yul rolled up the last three hairpins. "You should have seen the look on his face when he came running," Yul said, chuckling, his calm veneer briefly broken by amusement. "I don't know why he ran away from Lady Kexin in the first place."
U-ri was still confused. "Why did you run away from her? I thought we had a good relationship with her and her brother."
Abrafo shrugged, unsettled. "I don't know, but I guess I don't want to see her or hear her annoying voice."
U-ri immediately started teasing him. "Heh... there's an old saying: the more you hate, the more you love. The further away you are, the deeper the desire."
Abrafo was disgusted. "Bullshit! I would marry anyone that is not her. Even a pig!"
As the three men started walking toward their home, Yul quietly asked, "If that's the case, then why don't you step forward in the Throne Hall and agree to marry Hajime?"
Abrafo chuckled, walking backward to face Yul. "Well, I was about to do that, but you were one step ahead of me!" He winked. "But if you don't mind, I'm willing to marry Hajime anytime."
"It's a bit late now," U-ri said quickly.
"How is that so late?" Abrafo challenged. "If Yul and Hajime agree, there shouldn't be any problem. My family doesn't mind having a male wife. My brother even has his own male mistress."
U-ri stumbled over his words, looking nervously at Yul. "That's because..." He gave up. "Well, it's too late. Don't ask anymore."
"If you don't tell me, how should I know? Tell me," Abrafo insisted, raising an eyebrow at U-ri.
U-ri, though old, saw the opportunity to drop a hard truth. "Because Yul and Hajime's marriage is not an ordinary marriage. It is a royal decree marriage issued by His Highness." U-ri lowered his voice, the weight of the statement settling over them. "The marriage is not just known by us; everyone in Cloyotto knows about it. Come to think of it, every city may have heard the news of Yul and Hajime's marriage."
He looked at Yul, whose expression remained completely impassive. "Yul can't even divorce Hajime without His Majesty's consent. So, if you want to marry Hajime, you must get His Majesty's consent. Even if His Majesty agrees, you must ask Hajime if you are his true love." He paused, studying Yul—who still showed no outward reaction. "Do you still remember why Hajime agreed to come with us?"
"How could I forget?" Abrafo replied sadly. "Hajime made it clear that he wanted to leave Tang Zang to find his true love."
"Are you his true love?" U-ri asked pointedly.
Abrafo's shoulders slumped. "It seems that I am not his true love." He moved away from Yul and stood next to U-ri. "U-ri, have you ever thought about what Hajime's true love would be like?"
U-ri considered the question. "Hmm... I'm not sure, but I'm thinking of someone tall, handsome, and fearless."
Abrafo looked at Yul, then back at U-ri, and joked, "Hey, I have everything in this description."
U-ri lightly shoved him. "Stop daydreaming. You shouldn't praise yourself but let others praise you."
U-ri and Abrafo stopped joking when they saw Yul was no longer listening to them, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. Abrafo turned to see what held his attention: a maid, Bi, was standing in front of them. "Do you know this person?" Abrafo asked Yul.
"Her master bought some hairpins from us," Yul said.
Bi gave a slight bow. "Sir, my master would like to discuss buying more hairpins with you."
"You can go to the stall and buy more hairpins," Yul replied, wary of leaving his companions.
"The order volume will be huge," Bi insisted. "So, my master wants to discuss it with you privately."
U-ri's eyes widened. "Then let's go talk to your master!"
"Please come with me," Bi instructed.
U-ri pulled Yul and Abrafo forward. "This may be our luck! If we can sell enough hairpins, we'll have money to travel and won't have to stay here for a month. In fifteen days, we can leave for Chanyi City."
Abrafo agreed immediately. "I agree with U-ri. Now that I know Kexin is here, I don't want to stay here anymore!"
The three men followed Bi to a nearby inn and were escorted to a private table on the second floor. A beautiful young woman sat waiting: Yun, the same Lady Lai from the market, who had bought the hairpins.
"Here, the lady is waiting," Bi announced.
Abrafo muttered under his breath, "Wow, what a beauty. Although she doesn't look as good as Kexin, I hope she has a better attitude."
"Stop talking nonsense," Yul hissed.
The three men sat at the round table. Yun pushed a piece of letter paper onto the table.
U-ri apologized. "Sorry, my lady, we can't understand your written language."
Bi took over. "My lady needs two hundred hairpins like this." She placed one of the butterfly hairpins on the table. "You are selling this type of hairpin for two silver leaves each, but my lady is willing to pay you ten leaves each if you can finish it within ten days."
"Ten days may be too short for us," U-ri hedged, calculating the labor.
Yul looked directly at Yun. "Can we know why you need the hairpins in ten days?"
Bi explained, "In ten days, it will be my lady's seventeenth birthday. We need the hairpins to give as gifts to the guests."
Yun looked at the three of them, specifically at Yul, and then, in a soft, clear voice, she said: "I invite you three to the birthday party."
Bi's jaw dropped, and tears welled in her eyes. "My... my... my Lady, you actually spoke... everyone thought you were mute..." she stammered, overwhelmed with happiness.
Yun smiled, a touch of mischief in her eyes. "I'm not. I just don't want to talk to people I don't want to talk to." She held Yul's gaze. "Will you come?"
Yul answered honestly. "Maybe, if we were still in the town."
Suddenly, a burst of noise from the street below drew their attention. They walked to the window and saw a crowd gathered around a market stall.
"What happened down there?" U-ri asked a nearby customer.
"That's Teacher Li and his poetry contest," the customer explained. "He does it every year."
Abrafo nudged U-ri. "Heh, this is something you are good at. Shall we go look?"
Yun turned from the window to Yul, repeating the question in her gentle voice. "Shall we go take a look?"